Christopher Smith: We are seriously inclined to isolate Lukashenka

The US Helsinki Commission held a meeting in the Congress to discuss the situation in Belarus.

Below is the verbatim report of the meeting.

Helsinki Commission hearing -- Belarus Excerpt:

Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe: U.S. Helsinki Commission

Ireland’s Leadership of the OSCE

Witness:

Eamon Gilmore,

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade,

Republic of Ireland

OSCE Chairman-in-Office

Representative Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Chairman, US Helsinki Commission

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

From Minister Gilmore’s testimony:

…Mr. Chairman, I will now turn to some current issues within the OSCE region. As I stated earlier, I am committed to addressing specific instances where OSCE commitments are not being met, and we will work closely with all participating states to ensure that their commitments are being fulfilled.

I would like to mention briefly the situation in Belarus. Continuing erosion of human rights in Belarus is a cause for concern. By prosecuting human rights defenders and limiting freedom of association, Belarus is regrettably falling short of its OSCE commitments.

There is no doubt that a reinstatement of an OSCE presence in Belarus in some form will be an important step in the right direction and will send a positive signal to the international community. I will maintain an open channel to the Belarus authorities throughout our chairmanship.

From Questions and Answers:

REP. SMITH: Chairman Gilmore, thank you very much for your excellent statement – very comprehensive. And I know my colleagues and I are all looking forward to your leadership. We know it will be robust and very effective. Just a couple of questions, if I could, on some specific issues.

You mentioned Belarus, and Belarus has been the subject of not only hearings but trips on our behalf. I and some 11 other members were in Belarus a couple of years ago – met with Lukashenka. It was a very disappointing, to say the least, meeting. It was more of a he spoke, he expected us just to listen. And it was more of a diatribe rather than a discussion.

But, that said, you know, last year 14 OSCE states invoked the Moscow Mechanism. And I’m wondering if there’s any indication that Belarusian authorities have acted upon any of the reports, recommendations.

And, secondly, just good news. On January 3rd, the Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act – and I am the sponsor of that legislation – was signed into law by President Obama. It reiterates, strengthens a number of provisions of our original law that we passed in 2004.

And the fact that both the Europeans and the United States have lists of abusers that are denied visas, I think it makes it very clear that we’re not kidding, that Lukashenka increasingly is isolated. And obviously many of your friends and mine today are languishing in Lukashenka’s prisons.

We had a hearing a few months ago, and one of the presidential candidates testified, and he talked about how he was stripped virtually every day, humiliated and degraded by the KGB, and talked about the – just the awful treatment that he and other political dissidents – candidates, men and women who just simply..found themselves in prison.

He was one of the lucky ones who got out. There were many others who have been – who received long prison sentences. So maybe if you could spend a little time on the mechanism, the report, and what you think we can do even further to promote democracy and respect for human rights in Belarus.

And I’d just say, parenthetically, I have applied for a visa. I’ve been denied. I would love to go and meet with Lukashenka again – I’ll give him a copy of our bill – and bring some focus, if you will, on Congress’ angst to his ongoing persecutions of people simply because they disagree with his dictatorship.

Sir.

MR. GILMORE: Thank you. I thank the chairman.

I want to address first of all an issue which you raised in your opening statement, and that is the issue of international parental child abductions.

As a party to The Hague Convention, Ireland shares concerns about international parental child abduction, and we are keen to use the chairmanship to raise awareness of The Hague Convention and to highlight the importance of ratification and implementation of the convention by all OSCE participating states.

Regarding the possibility of us seeking a Ministerial Council decision in Dublin, we need to assess whether it will be possible to build the necessary consensus. Obviously, to move forward without the strong possibility of securing agreement could be counterproductive, and we’re encouraging participating states who wish to see ministerial decisions on specific topics adopted at Dublin to work closely with other member states – participating states in the year ahead to build support.

With regard to Belarus, there is no doubt that the situation with regard to human rights and fundamental freedoms in Belarus has continued to deteriorate since the presidential election in 2010. The Moscow Mechanism, as you have said, has been invoked, but the Belarus authorities have not acted on the recommendations that have been made.

The election observation mission, which is organized by the OSCE’s office, ODIHR, was extremely critical of the presidential election, which was characterized by fraudulent activities. Many opposition figures and human rights activists were arrested after the election.

Since then, the environment for the opposition has become more difficult, with legislation adopted on the legal requirements for gatherings and the prohibition on political parties and NGOs from keeping assets abroad. This has been accompanied by increased harassment of human rights defenders.

I recently issued a statement expressing concern about the case of the human rights defender, Ales Bialiatski, whose appeal against his conviction for tax evasion on charges that were almost certainly politically motivated was rejected. Bialiatski is now serving a sentence of four-and-a-half years in a prison camp.

Ireland condemns the harassment of opposition and human rights organizations in Belarus. I regret that the situation in Belarus has deteriorated. Nevertheless, as OSCE chair-in-office, I have to keep a channel open to the Belarus authorities.

And I might add that the situation in Belarus is discussed regularly at the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, of which obviously I’m a member state, and sanctions have been considered there; indeed, decisions made in relation to sanctions.

And, obviously, in our capacity as a member state of the European Union, we identify and support with those. But in my capacity as chair-in-office of the OSCE, I think it’s important that we keep the channel open to Belarus, maintain that communication and hope that we can use our good offices – because at the end of the day, what we are talking about, our standards which have been agreed by all participating – including Belarus.

The OSCE – what has been agreed by the OSCE, agreed by consensus – it’s right across the board – and the obligation is on Belarus to comply with those standards.

REP. SMITH: Thank you for that excellent answer.