MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
7 March 2005
pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure
by Emma Bonino, Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella, Henrik Lax and Janusz Onyszkiewicz,
on behalf of the ALDE Group
on Belarus: the marinich case and others
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0193/2005
B6-0198/2005
European parliament resolution on Belarus: the Marinich case and others
The European parliament,
– having regard, in particular, to its resolution of 27 October 2004 on the situation in Belarus after the parliamentary elections and referendum of 17 October 2004,
– having regard to the final conclusions of the International Election Observation Mission of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly of 9 December 2004,
– having regard to the resolutions by the Council of Europe on the situation in Belarus and, in particular, to its resolution of 28 April 2004 on the persecution of the press in the Republic of Belarus,
- having regard to the declaration of the Head of the OSCE Office in Minsk on the prison sentences passed on two members of the Belarus opposition accused of defaming the President of Belarus,
- having regard, in particular, to the 'EU action plan for promoting democracy in Belarus' adopted by the EU Delegation for relations with Belarus on 23 February 2005,
- having regard to the EU common position of 24 September 2004,
- having regard to the Declaration by the Presidency of the EU regarding the Marinich case,
- having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
- A.whereas the Parliamentary Troika concluded that neither the parliamentary nor the presidential elections of 2000 and 2001 were free and fair and that they were preceded by arbitrary action by the government against the political opposition, independent media and election-observing organisations,
- B.whereas, instead of improving, the situation in Belarus has further deteriorated to a situation where human rights are violated with contempt, the Lower House is deprived of its legislative rights, and economic life is ruled by the president; whereas these violations include imprisonment of members of the democratic opposition and other forms of repression used against them, the de-registration of political parties in the run-up to the elections, the harassment and intimidation of opposition candidates and the banning of representatives of opposition parties at polling stations,
- C.whereas the EU has repeatedly condemned the arrest of prominent opposition leaders by the Lukashenko government and whereas no progress has been made in the unsolved cases of a number of disappeared persons,
- D.whereas over the past few years several political parties and more than 50 pro-democracy NGOs of different levels and different political orientations, 25 independent mass media entities, and several educational establishments have been closed for ‘technical’ reasons, but whereas it was clear that in all cases these organisations were punished for criticising the president and his policy,
- E.whereas Mikhail Marinich, an opposition leader, who ran in the 2001 Presidential elections and who is former Minister for External Economic Relations and former Ambassador to Latvia, Estonia and Finland has been sentenced, on 3 December 2004 to five years imprisonment, a subsequent three years ban on holding public office and confiscation of property for the alleged illegal misappropriation of computers owned by the US embassy,
- F.whereas the United States has declared that it makes no claim against Mr Marinich in connection with the computers,
- G.whereas the trial did not meet international standards of transparency and due process,
- H.whereas Belarusian authorities denied representatives of the UN working group on arbitrary detentions the possibility of meeting with Mr Marinich,
- I.whereas the numerous charges and irregular procedures combined with the repeated extensions of his detention make it seem likely that Mikhail Marinich is being prosecuted for political reasons to punish him for his peaceful opposition activity,
- J.whereas Mr Marinich has been adopted as "Prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International,
- K.whereas politically motivated arrests and trials of activists of the democratic movement and independent journalists, and deportations of foreign citizens are continually taking place in Belarus; whereas in September 2004 two members of the Belarussian opposition, Valery Levonevsky and Alexander Vasilyev, were condemned to two years in prison on a charge of defaming the President of Belarus,
- L.whereas such convictions can serve only to further limit the development of Belarus - European Union relations,
- M.whereas between 1999 and 2000 four leading persons disappeared in Belarus: Yuri Zakharenko, the former Minister of Interior; Victor Gonchar, former Vice-President of the Parliament of Belarus; Anatoly Krasovsky, a businessman and Dimitri Zadadvaksi, a cameramen for the Russian TV channel ORT;
- N.whereas no proper investigation of the disappearances has been conducted by the competent Belarussian authorities;
- O.whereas the ongoing peaceful protests by small shopkeepers have faced intimidation by the government and the organisers of these strikes have been detained and fined.
1. Calls for the sentence to be reconsidered taking into account the nature of the charges against Mr Marinich;
2. Strongly condemns the Belarussian regime’s indiscriminate attacks on the media, journalists, members of the opposition, human rights activists and any person who attempts freely to voice criticism of the President and the regime, as manifested through arbitrary arrests, ill‑treatment of detainees, disappearances, politically motivated persecution and other acts of repression that flout the basic principles of democracy and the rule of law;
3. Considers President Lukashenko's extension of his presidential term by referendum as a further confirmation of the authoritarian way in which he rules the country;
4. Calls on the Belarussian authorities to allow peaceful protests of small shopkeepers, and the release from prison of the organisers and leaders of these protests;
5. Calls for an independent investigation to be opened under a neutral investigator regarding the case of the disapearance of Yuri Zakharenko, the former Minister of Interior; Victor Gonchar, former Vice-President of the Parliament of Belarus; Anatoly Krasovsky, a businessman; and Dmitry Zavadski, a cameraman for the Russian TV channel ORT.
6. Calls on the Belarussian authorities to release immediately Valery Levonevsky, Alexander Vasilyev and all other imprisoned political opponents of the regime;
7. Calls on the Council and the Governments of the Member States to identify and freeze the personal assets of President Lukashenko and those other senior members of the regime who ensure the continuation of the dictatorship;
8. Calls on the Council, and the Governments of Member States to increase the list of representatives of the Belarussian authorities subject to the visa ban on entering the territory of the EU member states.
9. Stresses that a policy of sanctions against Belarus will only target the authorities of that country and in no way will affect Belarussian society, as proposed in the 'EU action plan for promoting democracy in Belarus' recently adopted by the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with Belarus.
10. Urges the Commission, the Council and the governments of the Member States to draw up an action plan for further ways to increase together with other democratic countries and international institutes - support for all remaining democratic focus in Belarus and to assist more effectively those people in Belarussian civil society working for democratic changes in Belarus;
11. Emphasises once again that the further development of EU relations with Belarus will continue to depend on the progress made towards democratisation and reform in the country;
12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Secretary General of the OSCE and the Government of Belarus.