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The Government of Belarus: Crushing Human Rights at Home?

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The Government of Belarus: Crushing Human Rights at Home? THE GOVERNMENT OF BELARUS: CRUSHING HUMAN RIGHTS AT HOME? JOINT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE AND EURASIA OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION APRIL 1, 2011 Serial No. 112–56 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 65–497PDF WASHINGTON : 2011 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey HOWARD L. BERMAN, California DAN BURTON, Indiana GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ELTON GALLEGLY, California ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American DANA ROHRABACHER, California Samoa DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey EDWARD R. ROYCE, California BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE CHABOT, Ohio ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York RON PAUL, Texas GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York MIKE PENCE, Indiana RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri JOE WILSON, South Carolina ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey CONNIE MACK, Florida GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas DENNIS CARDOZA, California TED POE, Texas BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida BRIAN HIGGINS, New York JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania BILL JOHNSON, Ohio CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut DAVID RIVERA, Florida FREDERICA WILSON, Florida MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania KAREN BASS, California TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina VACANT YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey, Chairman JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas KAREN BASS, California TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE AND EURASIA DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman ELTON GALLEGLY, California GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio TED POE, Texas (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL C O N T E N T S Page WITNESSES Mr. Daniel A. Russell, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, and Belarus, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State ............................................................................................ 9 Mr. David Kramer, executive director, Freedom House ....................................... 23 Mr. Matt Rojansky, deputy director, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ................................................................... 37 LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE HEARING The Honorable Dan Burton, a Representative in Congress from the State of Indiana, and chairman, Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia: Prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 6 Mr. Daniel A. Russell: Prepared statement ........................................................... 12 Mr. David Kramer: Prepared statement ................................................................ 27 Mr. Matt Rojansky: Prepared statement ............................................................... 39 APPENDIX Hearing notice .......................................................................................................... 58 Hearing minutes ...................................................................................................... 59 The Honorable Russ Carnahan, a Representative in Congress from the State of Missouri: Prepared statement ......................................................................... 60 The Honorable Donald M. Payne, a Representative in Congress from the State of New Jersey: Material submitted for the record ................................... 61 (V) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL THE GOVERNMENT OF BELARUS: CRUSHING HUMAN RIGHTS AT HOME? FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 2011 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON AFRICA, GLOBAL HEALTH, AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON EUROPE AND EURASIA, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, Washington, DC. The subcommittees met, pursuant to notice, at 1:50 p.m., in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher H. Smith [chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights] presiding. Mr. SMITH. The subcommittees will come to order. And good afternoon and welcome to this joint hearing of the Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights Subcommittee and the Europe and Eur- asia Subcommittee, which will explore the recent mockery of an election and a crackdown on democracy activists by the Luka- shenka dictatorship in Belarus. We will also seek to answer questions about how we can most constructively hold the Lukashenka dictatorship accountable for its crimes and best assist the Belarusian people in their struggle for freedom, human rights and democracy. After the Presidential election of December 19, 2010, thousands of Belarusians peacefully protested the massive electoral fraud. The Lukashenka dictatorship sicced its security forces on the crowds, indiscriminately clubbing demonstrators, and detained over 700 people. In a manner reminiscent of the late Soviet era, the dictatorship has focused its ongoing crackdown on the democratic political oppo- sition, independent media and civil society. The dictator’s brutal campaign has been marked by the abuse of those jailed, by unfair trials and harsh sentences up to 4 years so far and by harassment and intimidation by the KGB, including interrogations, raids and other forms of pressure on families of opposition leaders, their law- yers, journalists and democratic activists. Recently I have had meetings with relatives and friends of the imprisoned Presidential candidates. They have told me heart- breaking stories about the mistreatment of their loved ones. And one of those who remains imprisoned is my personal friend, Anatoly Lebedko, a courageous and long-time leader of the demo- cratic opposition. We have to keep in mind that the post-election crackdown is not over. In the last few days alone, a correspondent for Poland’s larg- (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:51 Oct 04, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\AGH\040111\65497 HFA PsN: SHIRL 2 est daily newspaper was charged with ‘‘insulting the President,’’ a crime in Belarus. And the Belarusian KGB interrogated another journalist as well. On Tuesday, the dictatorship’s courts sentenced a democratic activist to 31⁄2 years of imprisonment for taking part in the December 19th protest. His was the eighth in a series of show trials. Just yesterday, the Belarusian Government forced the closure of the Minsk office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe despite many OSCE efforts to keep it open. As part of a Helsinki Commission visit to Minsk in June 2009, I had the opportunity, along with my colleagues, to press Lukashenka directly on his dismal human rights record and denial of fundamental freedoms. While making clear our support for Belarus’ independence, the delegation reiterated the longstanding message that the only way to improve relations between our two countries was and is for him to take steps to increase political free- dom and respect human rights. We told Lukashenka that the ball was in his court. There were even small, tentative steps taken at that time in the right direction. But since December 19th, any hopes for change have been squashed. Aleksandr Lukashenka continues to turn a deaf ear to all criti- cism of his government. At a press conference after the election, Lukashenka said that Belarus will have no more ‘‘mindless democ- racy,’’ clearly manifesting his sneering contempt for the Belarusian people, many of whose lives have been ruined and whose country he stole 16 years ago, transforming it into a grotesque anomaly, what is often called Europe’s last dictatorship. The United States and the EU have responded to the electoral fraud, violence and repression with strong condemnations, includ- ing from our President, and some additional punitive measures, at least for now. I would encourage both, especially the EU, to look for additional ways to hold Lukashenka to account. The scale of the post-election violence and the severity of the
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