Bill Summary
This legislation, known as the RESOLUTION, recognizes the ongoing suppression of freedom of expression and human rights in Belarus, especially after the 2020 election. It calls for an end to the government's campaign of repression against peaceful protesters, journalists, cultural workers, human rights defenders, trade union activists, political activists, and government critics. The resolution also expresses solidarity with the Belarusian people in their struggle for democracy and universal human rights. It references previous legislation passed by the House of Representatives, including the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020 and H. Res. 124, which supports the people of Belarus and condemns election rigging and violent crackdowns on peaceful protesters. The resolution also highlights the actions taken by the Biden administration, such as meeting with Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and imposing economic sanctions on the government of Belarus. Furthermore, the resolution condemns the Belarusian authorities' violations of user rights and censorship of the internet, and calls on the Biden administration to support initiatives to assist survivors of human rights violations in Belarus. Overall, the resolution supports the aspirations of the Belarusian people and calls for accountability and cooperation with international partners and organizations.
Possible Impacts
1. Limiting Freedom of Expression: The legislation includes condemnation of the Belarusian government's assault on freedom of expression and human rights. This could affect people living in Belarus by restricting their ability to speak out against the government and express their opinions without fear of persecution.
2. Protection of Human Rights Defenders: The legislation calls for the immediate release of journalists, cultural figures, and dissidents currently held as political prisoners in Belarus. This could affect individuals who are being unjustly detained and facing human rights violations, providing them with hope for their release and protection.
3. Demanding Accountability for Human Rights Violations: The legislation calls on the Biden administration to examine all available accountability options for violators of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus. This could affect government officials and individuals who have been involved in human rights abuses, holding them accountable for their actions and potentially leading to consequences for their actions.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 681 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 681
Recognizing the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and human
rights in Belarus a year after the 2020 election, calling for an end to
Alyaksandr Lukashenka's continued campaign of repression against
peaceful protesters, journalists, cultural workers, human rights
defenders, trade union activists, political activists, and government
critics, and expressing solidarity with the Belarusian people.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 24, 2021
Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr. Fitzpatrick,
Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Cleaver) submitted the following resolution; which
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Recognizing the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression and human
rights in Belarus a year after the 2020 election, calling for an end to
Alyaksandr Lukashenka's continued campaign of repression against
peaceful protesters, journalists, cultural workers, human rights
defenders, trade union activists, political activists, and government
critics, and expressing solidarity with the Belarusian people.
Whereas, on August 9, 2020, the Government of Belarus conducted a Presidential
election that was marred by arrests of leading opposition candidates,
groundless refusals to register certain opposition candidates for the
ballot, and allegations of widespread fraud;
Whereas, on November 18, 2020, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 8438:
The Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020;
Whereas, on April 20, 2021, the House of Representatives passed H. Res. 124:
Supporting the people of Belarus and their democratic aspirations and
condemning the election rigging and subsequent violent crackdowns on
peaceful protesters by the illegitimate Lukashenka regime;
Whereas, on July 27, 2021, President Biden met Belarusian opposition leader
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya at the White House and declared that ``The
United States stands with the people of Belarus in their quest for
democracy and universal human rights.'';
Whereas, on August 9, 2021, the Biden administration imposed a new round of
economic sanctions targeting officials, companies, and state-owned
enterprises in Belarus who fund the government of Alyaksandr Lukashenka
in response to his ongoing abuses 1 year after the emergence of protests
against his rule;
Whereas in the following months, hundreds of thousands of Belarusian citizens
engaged in peaceful protests demanding the resignation of Alyaksandr
Lukashenka;
Whereas these protests were met with unprecedented violence and repression by
the Belarusian authorities, which repeatedly attacked the rights to
freedom of expression and assembly and targeted peaceful protesters,
journalists, cultural figures, and other Belarusian citizens;
Whereas a year later, Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government has continued, and at
points heightened, its campaign to silence critical voices, resulting in
the unprecedented closure of civic spaces and broader attacks on human
rights in Belarus;
Whereas, since August 2020, more than 35,000 peaceful protesters in Belarus have
been detained;
Whereas, as of September 17, 2021, Belarusian NGOs recognized more than 660
people who were detained or imprisoned in Belarus on politically
motivated charges, mostly in connection to their alleged involvement in
protests and other political activism during and after the Presidential
election;
Whereas the country's top rights group has testimony from more than 1,000 people
who detailed torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment against them
while in detention in 2020;
Whereas at least 23 lawyers have been disbarred since October 2020 in
retaliation for their human rights work, and new amendments to the Law
on Bar and Advocates further restrict the independence of Belarusian
lawyers;
Whereas Belarusian authorities received over 4,644 complaints concerning police
brutality in protests and detentions by late November 2020;
Whereas at least four protesters died as a result of police brutality, one
political activist died in prison, and one teenager committed suicide
after being interrogated by security officials;
Whereas Belarus was the world's fifth highest jailer of writers and public
intellectuals with at least 18 behind bars in 2020, according to PEN
America's Freedom to Write Index;
Whereas at least 54 of the Belarusians currently imprisoned in retaliation for
their peaceful activism are cultural workers or figures, including
musician and opposition leader Maryia Kalesnikava who was abducted on
September 8, 2020, by masked police, jailed, and earlier this month was
sentenced to 11 years in prison;
Whereas, in the first 6 months of 2021, 621 cases of rights violations against
cultural figures took place in Belarus, including arrests, detentions,
ill treatment, dismissals, and other retributions;
Whereas, since August 2020, there have been at least 400 arrests based on the
use or display of national symbols, the white-red-white flag, and
clothes or objects containing a combination of red and white colors;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has attempted to suppress organized human
rights and cultural advocacy by putting more than 200 human rights and
other civil society organizations into dissolution procedures;
Whereas the Belarusian Justice Ministry shut down the 32-year old literary group
PEN Belarus on August 9, 2021, whose members have been forced to
evacuate and 4 of whom were detained in October 2020 for participation
in peaceful protests;
Whereas at least 40 Belarusian students currently face criminal prosecution for
participating in peaceful rallies, including 11 students recently
sentenced to 2 or 2\1/2\ sentences for peacefully protesting, as well as
student Katsyaryna Vinnikava who was sentenced to 15 days in prison
after giving a graduation speech in which she honored peaceful
protesters;
Whereas the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters Without
Borders, notes that Belarus fell 5 places to 158th out of 180 countries
this year, and is the most dangerous country in Europe for media
personnel;
Whereas, as of June 2021, there have been at least 580 instances of arbitrary
detentions of journalists since August 2020, with more than 3,000 days
spent in jail collectively;
Whereas at least 27 journalists are currently in jail in Belarus, including
Darya Chultsova and Katsiaryna Andreyeva, who were arrested in November
2020 after filming the dispersal of a peaceful protest and sentenced to
2 years in a penal colony;
Whereas Belarusian blogger and journalist Raman Pratasevich was abducted midair
during a commercial flight passing through Belarusian airspace from
Greece to Lithuania;
Whereas, in July 2021 alone, Belarusian authorities raided over 200 offices and
homes of journalists and activists;
Whereas Belarusian officials have launched a targeted campaign against
independent media, including labeling the Polish-funded Belsat broadcast
network as an ``extremist'' outlet and harassing and jailing journalists
working for the congressionally funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
service;
Whereas new amendments on Belarus' Mass Media Law will further enable the
repression of independent media, including by authorizing the
Information Ministry to shut down media outlets without a court order,
banning news media from reporting live from unauthorized mass
gatherings, and extending the right to block and censor websites to
local prosecutors;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has repeatedly violated user rights online by
employing systematic harassment, invasion of privacy, and increased
surveillance to monitor expression online;
Whereas the Belarusian Government has continually blocked political opposition
content online and forcibly removed politically sensitive content from
digital platforms; and
Whereas the Belarusian Government has blocked at least 20 websites in a further
effort to suppress the free flow of information, including 1 of the
country's most popular websites, TUT.BY, an independent news, media, and
service internet portal: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) condemns Belarusian authorities' egregious assault on
freedom of expression and human rights in Belarus since the
August 2020 Presidential election;
(2) condemns Belarusian authorities' ongoing attacks
against peaceful protesters, cultural figures, journalists,
lawyers, and human rights defenders;
(3) calls for the immediate release of journalists,
cultural figures, and dissidents currently held as political
prisoners in Belarus;
(4) condemns Belarusian authorities' violations of user
rights and curtailment of expression online, use of
surveillance to monitor expression, suppression of media access
to digital platforms, and blocking of political opposition
content from digital platforms, as noted in the Belarus
Democracy, Human Rights, and Sovereignty Act of 2020;
(5) calls for the countering of the Belarusian authorities'
internet censorship and use of repressive surveillance
technologies that seek to limit free association, control
access to information, and prevent citizens from engaging in
free expression;
(6) calls on the Biden administration to support
initiatives to assist survivors of torture and other human
rights violations from Belarus, including by working with
allies in the region to grant them protection and providing
avenues for them and their families to access safety in the
United States;
(7) commends the bravery of Belarusians who have created
innovative ways to protest Lukashenka's autocracy and applauds
the Belarusian diaspora's efforts to maintain international
focus on the deteriorating political situation;
(8) calls on the Biden administration to examine all
available accountability options for violators of human rights
and fundamental freedoms;
(9) calls on the Biden administration to demand that
Belarus cooperate fully with international partners and
organizations, including in particular the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Human Rights
Council Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in
Belarus, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation
Moscow Mechanism Rapporteur on Human Rights; and
(10) supports the aspirations of the Belarusian people in
their struggle for freedom and human rights.
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