Resolution: Supporting civil society and human rights in Belarus

The Executive Committee of the Liberal International meeting in San José, Costa Rica, on 6 November 2004,

 

- welcomes the invitation of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights by the government of Belarus so that this Office could start with the observation of the elections in September 2004;

 

- notes that this positive development was nevertheless insufficient to safeguard any remotely adequate European standard in the conduct of the elections and referendum;

 

- is deeply concerned about the manner in which recent parliamentary elections and the constitutional referendum in Belarus took place, which in, no sense, reflected the principal democratic standards of free, secret, and equal voting;

 

- notes with regret that OSCE demands to amend substantially the electoral law, necessary to meet European standards, did not take place;

 

- condemns the suppression of civil society and the partial prohibition of non-governmental organisations; as well as that opposition parties have been declared illegal or threatened with this fate in the near future;

 

- notes with grave concern the findings of a report of the Council of Europe showing that the disappearances of opposition politicians were allegedly the results of actions by organs of the state;

 

- notes also with grave concern the degrading treatment and punishment and the arbitrary detention of prisoners;

 

- stresses that all these abuses are evidence of the lack of democratic institutions and of the rule of law which characterises daily life in Belarus;

 

- strongly regrets the equivocal commands of the Russian President concerning the recent elections in Belarus, and calls on the Russian government to withdraw its support for fraudulent election practices in Belarus;

 

- welcomes the "Belarus Democracy Act" of 2004 adopted by the U.S House of Representatives, reaffirming the main points of "The Belarus Democracy Act" of 2001, so demonstrating unwavering support for pro-democratic forces in Belarus, and encourages other states to follow this example;

 

- calls on democratic countries in Europe to increase co-operation with democratic forces in Belarus;

 

- calls for an impartial investigation into the assault by Belarussian police on protesting citizens following the elections;

 

- urges the Belarus government to cease, instantly and unequivocally, any persecution and suppression of political opposition and of civil society;

 

- calls for the empowerment of the existing democratic parties and civil society groups, which are rooted in and supported by the society itself but have only limited political rights and opportunity to establish a sustainable position in the public system of Belarus;

 

- calls for sanctions on the Lukashenko regime, one of the few remaining dictatorships in Europe, including the freezing of funds, travel restrictions and the ending of any support to the state sector;

 

- sends a strong signal that we stand firmly on the side of those who long for freedom, democracy and human rights;

 

- calls for the Bureau and member parties of the Liberal International to engage in cooperation with the liberal democratic forces in Belarus, in order to support and strengthen these political forces in their fight against the undemocratic and oppressive regime of Lukashenko.