MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

20.5.2008

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Vittorio Agnoletto
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on BELARUS

B6‑0260/2008

European Parliament resolution on BELARUS

The European Parliament,

–    having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Belarus,

   –    having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

• A.  deeply concerned by the indiscriminate use of violence and arrests of large number of participants on the occasion of the Freedom Day in Minsk and other Belarusian cities on 25 March 2008,
• 1.   Condemns the continuous arbitrary arrests of members of civil society and opposition activists, notably the recent temporary detention and trial of Aleksander Milinkevich, and the clampdown on the independent media, facts that contradict the Belarusian Government's commitments concerning their wish to improve relations with the European Union;
• 2.   Is deeply concerned by the severe sentences imposed on Syarhei Parsyukevich and Andrei Kim in Minsk on 22 and 23 April 2008 for their participation in the entrepreneurs' demonstrations of 10 January 2008;
• 3.   Urges the Belarusian authorities to release immediately Mr Alyaksandr Kazulin, and to stop using intimidation, harassment, targeted arrests and politically motivated prosecutions against the activists of the democratic opposition and civil society in Belarus;
• 4.    Urges the Belarusian authorities to implement Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) standards in the organisation of the forthcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 28 September 2008 in a free and fair manner; calls on the government to give democratic opposition representatives access to district election commissions, to grant registration to all parliamentary candidates and their observers and to refrain from creating obstacles for a comprehensive and complete international election observation mission;
• 5.  Deplores the decision of the Belarusian authorities to refuse repeatedly entrance visas to the Members of the European Parliament and national parliamentarians in the last years; calls on the Belarusian authorities not to create any further obstacles preventing the European Parliament delegation for relations with Belarus from visiting the country and from observing and obtaining first-hand experience in Belarus;
• 6.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, and the Belarusian authorities.