Belarus continues to hold peaceful, democratic demonstrations to this day, protesting the disputed August 9 elections that gave President Lukashenka his sixth consecutive victory.
In recent days, as protesters marched through Belarusian cities calling for new elections, U.S. lawmakers passed an expanded version of the Belarus Democracy Act, imposing sanctions on the country’s authoritarian leader and his allies. This is the fourth time in 16 years that Congress has passed the bill.
Protests in Belarus have been approaching for two months. For eight consecutive weekends, tens of thousands of people marched in the capital Minsk and other major cities, demanding the resignation of President Lukashenko and the holding of new free and fair elections.
Protester Viktoriya said, “I think Lukashenko has been in power for 26 years and has completely lost touch with reality. He doesn’t understand that his time is over.”
Other protesters have demanded the release of all political prisoners.
One of them is Vitali Shkliarov, a dual U.S.-Belarusian citizen. The Washington-based political analyst was seized from the street in late July when he arrived in his native Gomel, Belarus, to visit his elderly parents. Members of the U.S. Congress told VOA that the U.S. government is doing everything it can to secure his release.
Democratic U.S. Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island said, “The message to his family is that he has not been forgotten. It’s critical to this country that we apply all the diplomatic pressure we can to secure his release.”
Every Sunday, thousands of people gather to protest outside Minsk’s infamous Okrestina detention center. Hundreds of peaceful protesters were detained there after the controversial August 9 elections and subjected to days of beatings and torture. A number of arrested protesters remain in the prison today.
Republican Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey says the brutality of Belarusian police has shocked the public, and U.S. lawmakers are demanding accountability.
Smith said, “We want names. When we sanction, the more names the better, because this time we’re not going to turn a blind eye.”
Smith is the author of the fourth version of the Belarus Democracy Act, which the House Foreign Affairs Committee passed last week. The bill strengthens and expands upon the 2004, 2006, and 2011 bills by reimposing economic and visa sanctions on “a growing number of actors in the Belarusian government, as well as Russian individuals involved in repression.”
This will be very effective,” Smith said. We’ve pushed Lukashenko to the tipping point.”
Activists say Western sanctions have sent the right signals to Lukashenka, but the ruler, who is described by his opponents as a “master of political balance,” has been subjected to similar pressures in the past and has not lost a thing.
Former Belarusian diplomat Valery Kavaresky said, “The measures taken today are not effective enough to make Lukashenka change his behavior.”
What is clearly different these days is that one of the main voices of protest from the Belarusian people testifies to the level of their anger.
At the same time, peaceful protests as well as crackdowns continue on a daily basis.
Recent Comments