[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8329 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8329
To reauthorize and modify the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 8, 2024
Mr. Smith of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kean of New
Jersey, Ms. Kaptur, and Mr. Wilson of South Carolina) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and the
Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker,
in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the
jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To reauthorize and modify the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Belarus Democracy, Human Rights, and
Sovereignty Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Section 2 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-347;
22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
``Congress finds the following:
``(1) The International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights, done in New York December 19, 1966, was ratified by
Belarus in 1973, guaranteeing Belarusians the freedom of
expression and the freedom of association.
``(2) Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ruled Belarus as an
undemocratic dictatorship since the first presidential election
in Belarus in 1994, and subsequent presidential elections have
been neither free nor fair, failing to meet minimal
international electoral standards.
``(3) In response to the repression and violence during the
2006 presidential election, Congress passed the Belarus
Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-480).
``(4) In 2006, President George W. Bush issued Executive
Order 13405, titled `Blocking Property of Certain Persons
Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Belarus',
which authorized the imposition of sanctions against persons
responsible for--
``(A) undermining democratic processes in Belarus;
or
``(B) participating in human rights abuses related
to political repression in Belarus.
``(5) In March 2011, the Senate unanimously passed Senate
Resolution 105, which--
``(A) condemned the December 2010 election in
Belarus as `illegitimate, fraudulent, and not
representative of the will or the aspirations of the
voters in Belarus'; and
``(B) called on the Lukashenka regime `to
immediately and unconditionally release all political
prisoners in Belarus who were arrested in association
with the December 19, 2010, election'.
``(6) The Government of Belarus continues to engage in a
pattern of clear and persistent gross violations of
internationally recognized human rights, and basic principles
of democratic governance.
``(7) The Government of Belarus continues to subject
thousands of pro-democracy political activists and peaceful
protesters to harassment, beatings, and imprisonment,
particularly as a result of their attempts to peacefully
exercise their right to freedom of assembly and association.
``(8) The Government of Belarus continues to suppress
independent media and journalists and to restrict access to the
internet, including social media and other digital
communication platforms, in violation of the right to freedom
of speech and expression of those dissenting from the
dictatorship of Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
``(9) The Government of Belarus continues a systematic
campaign of harassment, repression, and closure of
nongovernmental organizations, including independent trade
unions and entrepreneurs, creating a climate of fear that
inhibits the development of civil society and social
solidarity.
``(10) The Government of Belarus has pursued a policy
undermining the country's sovereignty and independence by
making Belarus' political, economic, cultural, and societal
interests subservient to those of Russia.
``(11) The Government of Belarus continues to reduce the
independence of Belarus through integration into a so-called
`Union State' that is under the control of Russia.
``(12) In advance of the August 2020 presidential elections
in Belarus, authorities acting on behalf of President
Lukashenka arrested journalists, bloggers, political activists,
and the leading political opposition candidates, leading to
demonstrations in support of democracy.
``(13) On August 9, 2020, the Government of Belarus
conducted a presidential election that was held under
undemocratic conditions, did not meet international standards,
involved government malfeasance and serious irregularities with
ballot counting and the reporting of election results, and
included restrictive measures that impeded the work of local
independent observers and did not provide sufficient notice to
the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
to allow for the OSCE to monitor the elections, as is
customary.
``(14) Illegitimate president Alyaksandr Lukashenka
declared a landslide victory in the election and claimed to
have received more than 80 percent of the votes cast in the
election.
``(15) The leading opposition candidate, Sviatlana
Tsikhanouskaya, formally disputed the reported results and was
detained by government authorities before being forced into
exile in Lithuania.
``(16) Later in August, 2020, the United States Deputy
Secretary of State, Stephen Biegun, and European Union High
Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell,
issued statements declaring the Belarus elections to be
fraudulent and neither free nor fair.
``(17) Following the illegitimate election results, tens of
thousands of Belarusian protestors took to the streets, led
predominately by women, resulting in the largest protest
rallies in Belarus' modern history, with over 1,400 reported as
injured by Belarusian police in August and September 2020, over
37,000 detained by May 2021, and several killed for protesting
the fraudulent election.
``(18) The Government of Belarus has consistently
restricted the free flow of information to silence the
opposition and to conceal the regime's violent crackdown on
peaceful protestors, including through the suppression of
independent media and journalists, and disruption of free
internet access.
``(19) After the employees of state media outlets walked
off the job in protest rather than help report misleading
government propaganda, Lukashenka confirmed that he `asked the
Russians' to send teams of Russian journalists to replace local
employees.
``(20) Following Alyaksandr Lukashenka's September 23,
2020, inauguration, the United States, the European Union,
numerous European states, the United Kingdom, and Canada
announced that they cannot consider Mr. Lukashenka as the
legitimately elected leader of Belarus.
``(21) As a result of the Lukashenka regime's violence
against the Belarusian people and deprivation of their
fundamental rights, the United States Congress passed and the
President signed into law the Belarus Democracy, Human Rights,
and Sovereignty Act of 2020 to demand the rights of the
Belarusian people be respected and to hold accountable those
who undermine them.
``(22) As a result of the Lukashenka regime's violence
against its own people, in December 2020, Members of Congress
and transatlantic parliamentarians wrote a letter to the
International Ice Hockey Federation President demanding the
Championship be relocated from Belarus.
``(23) In response to the Government of Belarus' repressive
actions following the 2020 election, the United States, along
with the European Union, imposed various sanctions packages on
individuals and entities involved with the suppression of
democracy in Belarus, including--
``(A) the Central Election Commission of the
Republic of Belarus and officials determined to be
responsible for undermining democracy in Belarus;
``(B) entities and persons determined to be
involved in the violent suppression of protestors, such
as the Minsk Special Purpose Police Unit, the Main
Internal Affairs Directorate of the Minsk City
Executive Committee, and KGB Alpha; and
``(C) state-owned enterprises that provide revenue
to support Lukashenka's authoritarian regime.
``(24) In April 2021, the House of Representatives passed
House Resolution 124 reaffirming that the August 2020 elections
were neither free nor fair and that the House of
Representatives does not recognize Alyaksandr Lukashenka as
Belarus' legitimate president.
``(25) On May 23, 2021, the Government of Belarus forced
Ryanair Flight 4978 to land in Belarus as it neared the border
of Lithuania after calling in a false bomb report and
subsequently arrested independent Belarusian opposition blogger
and political activist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend,
threatening the safety of every passenger aboard the civilian
flight, and ultimately detaining Pratasevich as a political
prisoner.
``(26) In May 2021, the European Union pledged a
comprehensive plan of economic support worth up to 3 billion
euros to assist in the development of a future, democratic
Belarus following a democratic transition.
``(27) As of April 2024, the Government of Belarus, led
illegally by Alyaksandr Lukashenka, unlawfully holds nearly
1,400 people as political prisoners, including dozens of
journalists such as Ihar Losik and Andrey Kuznechyk from Radio
Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
``(28) The Government of Belarus, led illegally by
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has consistently weaponized migrants and
asylum seekers by transporting them to Belarus' borders with
the NATO and European Union countries of Latvia, Lithuania, and
Poland in an attempt to destabilize each country by creating
diplomatic border crises, and in violation of the migrant and
asylum seekers' human rights.
``(29) The Government of Belarus has been complicit in
Russia's illegal and full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
``(30) In advance of Russia's unprovoked war of aggression
against Ukraine, Alyaksandr Lukashenka opened Belarus' borders
to the Russian military, serving as a staging area, providing
bases for training and for launching air strikes and invasion
forces, and providing logistical support to the Russian
invasion force which attacked Ukraine in February 2022.
``(31) In February 2022, just days after Russia's
unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Alyaksandr Lukashenka held a
constitutional referendum described by the Department of State
as `not free or fair' which, among other provisions, would
endow Lukashenka with lifetime immunity from prosecution for
his crimes, allow Russian nuclear weapons to be stationed on
the territory of Belarus, and formally revoke Belarus' status
as a neutral nation.
``(32) Since the start of Russia's brutal and unprovoked
war of aggression in Ukraine, the Government of Belarus has
consistently worked to further the so-called `Union State' with
the Russian Federation and deepen joint military and economic
ties to support Russia's war effort.
``(33) Throughout Russia's brutal and unprovoked war of
aggression in Ukraine, the Government of Belarus has
participated in the abduction and illegal deportation of
Ukrainian civilians from territory occupied by the Russian
Federation, including thousands of children sent to facilities
in Belarus for `re-education' as detailed in a November 2023
report by the Yale University Humanitarian Research Lab's
Conflict Observatory.
``(34) The now-suspended Belarusian branch of the Red Cross
has publicly confirmed its involvement in transferring children
from Ukraine to the territory of Belarus, and the illegitimate
leader of the Government of Belarus, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, has
publicly confirmed that he permitted these transfers.
``(35) In Spring 2023, the Government of Belarus announced
plans for the deployment of nuclear weapons from the Russian
Federation to the territory of Belarus, which reportedly began
in the summer of this same year.
``(36) The Government of Belarus has harbored the Wagner
Group, a private military company the United States has
designated as a Transnational Criminal Organization, and
provided facilities, resources, and a staging ground for the
group's criminal operations.
``(37) The Government of Belarus has reportedly provided
the Government of the Russian Federation with tens of thousands
of tons of ammunition throughout Russia's unprovoked war of
aggression in Ukraine.
``(38) As a result of the Government of Belarus' support to
the Russian Federation during its unprovoked war of aggression
against Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and the
United Kingdom have repeatedly issued further sanctions
packages against the Lukashenka regime to target Belarusian
military officers as well as individuals in the military
sector, restrictions on entities in Belarus' defense and
industrial sectors, and entities that provide support to
Belarus' military and industrial sectors.
``(39) The Government of Belarus is reportedly engaging in
the purchase of significant amount of military equipment from
the sanctioned Islamic Republic of Iran.
``(40) On August 6, 2023, the Belarusian democratic
opposition issued a declaration expressing their objective of
developing democracy in Belarus and pursuing membership in the
European Union and, by extension, joining the Trans-Atlantic
community.
``(41) The democratic opposition of Belarus have called on
the Government of Belarus, led illegally by Alyaksandr
Lukashenka, to end its complicity and involvement in the war in
Ukraine, and urged against the conscription of men into the
Belarusian military.
``(42) On February 28, 2022, the Department of State
ordered the departure of United States Government employees and
the suspension of operations of the United States Embassy in
Minsk.
``(43) On August 21, 2023, the United States Government
directed all United States citizens to leave Belarus
immediately due to the illegitimate Belarusian authorities'
continued cooperation with the Russian military and
facilitation of Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against
Ukraine, and the risk of detention and arbitrary enforcement of
local laws against United States citizens.
``(44) In September 2023, the Government of Belarus
deprived Belarusians living abroad of their ability to renew
their passports through Belarusian embassies in an attempt to
make life difficult for and to force exiles, critics, and
expats to return to Belarus for document renewal and possibly
face persecution.
``(45) In December 2023, the United States Government held
a Strategic Dialogue with the Belarusian democratic opposition
and civil society and subsequently announced a continuation of
efforts to hold Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his regime
accountable for their crimes, a commitment to supporting
Belarusian culture, sovereignty, and national identity, as well
as the need for future working groups with the democratic
opposition.''.
SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
Section 3 of the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-347;
22 U.S.C. 5811 note) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
``It is the policy of the United States--
``(1) to condemn--
``(A) the conduct of the August 9, 2020,
presidential election in Belarus, which was neither
free nor fair;
``(B) the Belarusian authorities' unrelenting
crackdown on, arbitrary arrests of, and violence
against opposition candidates, democratic opposition,
peaceful protestors, human rights activists, employees
from state-owned enterprises participating in strikes,
independent election observers, and independent
journalists and bloggers; and
``(C) the unjustified detention and forced or
attempted deportation of members of the Coordination
Council and United Transitional Cabinet in Belarus;
``(2) to condemn the illegitimate Belarusian authorities'
allowance of Russian nuclear weapons to be deployed to
Belarusian territory, their continued political and material
support for Russia's unprovoked war of aggression in Ukraine,
and their continued participation in abducting and deporting
Ukrainian children from territory occupied by the Russian
Federation to the territory of Belarus;
``(3) to condemn the presence of Russian forces on
Belarusian territory and demand the cessation of the use of
Belarusian territory by Russian forces as a staging ground for
Russia's illegal, full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine
or for the prevention of a peaceful democratic transition in
Belarus;
``(4) to demand accountability for the illegal Lukashenka
regime's complicity in the c