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Belarus Finally Getting Washington’s Attention

After nine years of neglect, official Washington has finally come to the conclusion that the political situation in Belarus cannot be ignored any longer. On May 3 [2000], the US House of Representatives, in a 409-2 vote, passed a strongly worded resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 304) in which the lawmakers condemned the Lukashenka regime for its human rights violations; called on the Belarusian government to engage in a dialogue with the opposition to restore a democratically elected government and constitutional rights of the Belarusian people; expressed support for Belarus’ sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity; and called on Russia to fully respect the sovereignty of Belarus (see FEATURES).

Subsequently, the resolution passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Senator Jesse Helms, its chairman, has promised to support its passage by the full Senate. Senator Helms and Congressman Benjamin Gilman, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, wrote a letter to President Clinton urging him to raise the question of Belarus with Russian President Putin during his June summit in Moscow. Before the trip, both the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries blasted the resolution as an interference in the internal affairs of "two" sovereign states.

One might wonder what was it that led the US House of Representatives to pass a resolution dealing with a country that Washington had written off long ago as one being, in its view, within the Russian sphere of influence.

One could name four main reasons causing the Washington lawmakers to raise their concern: the unresolved constitutional crisis in the country, the military implications of the Russian effort to absorb Belarus, the rise of the democratic opposition, and the involvement of Western NGOs and the Belarusian diaspora.

The constitutional crisis was brought about by the country’s president. The president was elected democratically in 1994; however, in 1996 he used a rigged referendum to extend his powers, dissolve the legal parliament, extend his term in office to 2001, and convert the country into a virtual police state. Human rights and civil liberties have been abrogated or simply ignored. Opposition leaders and their followers have become fair game. Western attempts to help mediate the conflict between the government and the opposition to resolve the constitutional crisis have produced no results so far. The president dismissed Western criticism as interference in the Internal affairs of a sovereign state.

The Russia-Belarus union ploy for the annexation of Belarus has come lately to look more ominous when the military of the two countries signed an agreement to make Belarus an extension of Russia's military power and thus threaten Poland -- a NATO member -- and the Baltic states. This action has caused concerns in Washington.

The opposition, fighting to restore a democratic form of government and prevent the union with Russia from becoming a reality, has become better organized, more cohesive and more sophisticated lately. A series of well planned and well executed rallies and marches brought a brutal response from the government, which in turn attracted the world’s attention, especially that of Western human rights organizations.

With the help of Western NGOs and the diaspora, the frequency of opposition leaders showing up in Washington has increased. Their first intent was to "teach" Washington about Belarus. They were somewhat surprised that the people they met displayed copies of Belarusian Review and seemed well informed about the country. But the real breakthrough came about last February when Siamion Sharecki, speaker of the Lukashenka-disbanded 13th Supreme Soviet--which is still being recognized by Western powers as the only legal parliament in Belarus--was invited by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to give a briefing on "Restoring Constitutional Democracy in Belarus" at their Washington headquarters. Prior to his Washington visit, the speaker was hosted by the Belarusian diaspora in Canada where he made several presentations on Belarus at Canadian universities. (By the way, this writer was much involved in having Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty extend the invitatio! ! ! n to Mr. Sharecki--also helped arrange a number of meetings for him in Washington, including the one with Congressman Gejdenson, who later authored Resolution 304.)

During that visit Mr. Sharecki and two of his parliamentary colleagues, Ludmila Hraznova and Stanislau Shushkievich, the former speaker/head of state, met with US Deputy secretary of State Strobe Talbot and with other officials at the Department of State and the National Security Council. On the legislative side, he met with Rep. Steny Hoyer and visited with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Rep. Sam Gejdenson, and Rep. Christopher Smith, Chairman of the Congressional Helsinki Commission. Mr. Smith encouraged Mr. Sharecki to come back and testify on Belarus at a Commission hearing. The hearing was held in March where both Sharecki and Shushkievich testified and the House passed Resolution 304 on May 3. A four-member opposition delegation visited Washington in the second half of May and met with administration officials and members of Congress (see FEATURES).

The adoption of the resolution and follow-up letters to President Clinton and secretary of State Albright from Senators and Congressmen and the friendly reception of the opposition delegation offer some hope and encouragement that the case for the restoration of democracy in Belarus is gaining momentum among the lawmakers. Now it’s the Administration’s turn. There have been no reports as to whether the issue of Belarus was raised by President Clinton during his Moscow visit. One must assume it wasn’t, knowing Mr. Clinton’s deference to Russian sensitivities.

One of the Washington officials made an interesting remark in February. He said that year 2000 will be the year of Belarus in Washington. We pray he was right. We feel disappointed that the US media have found nothing newsworthy to report on the issue. We feel differently about it and have sent our bouquet of thanks to the people who made this happen.

E-Mail: BelReview@aol.com       Editor: Joe Price




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