MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

4.7.2005

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Elisabeth Schroedter, Milan Horáček and Marie Anne Isler Béguin
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on independent media and the political situation in Belarus

B6‑0420/2005

European Parliament resolution on independent media and the political situation in Belarus

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Belarus and in particular to its resolution of 10 March 2005,

– having regard to the resolutions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the situation in Belarus and, in particular, to its resolution of 28 April 2004 on persecution of the press in the Republic of Belarus,

– having regard, in particular, to the 'EU action plan for promoting democracy in Belarus' adopted by the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with Belarus on 23 February 2005,

–  having regard to the Statement of the Luxembourg Presidency of 14 June 2005 supported by Ukraine and Moldova expressing deep concern over increasing pressure on the Belarussian opposition, mass media, trade unions and other structures of civil society and arrests and sentencing of opposition politicians and businessmen,

– having regard to the Communication from the Commission of 12 May 2004 on the European Neighbourhood Policy (COM(2004)0373),

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and in particular to Articles 19 and 21, which guarantee the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,

– having regard to the EU sanctions adopted on 2 July 2004 against Belarussian officials following the disappearance of three Belarussian opposition leaders and one journalist,

– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the situation in Belarus has further deteriorated, human rights are blatantly violated, freedom of the press and freedom of speech are repressed, the Lower House is deprived of its legislative rights and the economy is controlled by the President; whereas these violations include imprisonment of members of the democratic opposition and other forms of repression used against them,

B. 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,

C. whereas over the past few years several political parties, more than 50 pro-democracy NGOs of different levels and different political persuasions and several educational establishments have been closed down for ‘technical’ reasons but it was clear that in every case these organisations were being punished for criticising the President and his policy,

D. whereas in April 2004, the UN Commission on Human Rights criticized Belarus on account of continued reports of arbitrary arrest and detention and for harassing non-governmental organisations, opposition political parties and those engaged in democratic activities,

E. whereas 22 independent newspapers were closed down in the period 2003-2004, and an additional seven were temporarily closed in the period leading up to the parliamentary elections in October 2004,

F. whereas in December 2004 the European Parliament decided to award its Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to the Belarussian Association of Journalists, thus drawing attention to the plight of the independent media in that country,

G. whereas all registration of new newspapers has been stopped by the state authorities, trials of newspapers and journalists take place every day and many existing newspapers have been burdened with fines which make it impossible for them to continue publishing,

H.  whereas politically motivated arrests and trials of activists belonging to the democratic movement and independent journalists and deportations of foreign citizens are continually taking place in Belarus; whereas two journalists from the newspaper Pahonia – Pavel Mazheika and Nicola Markievich – as well as the editor of the newspaper Raboczyj, Victor Ivazhkievich, have been sentenced to between 6 and 9 months in prison under Articles 367 and 378 of the Belarussian Criminal Code, having been accused of defaming the head of state,

I. whereas Professor Bandazhevsky, a medical academic specialising in nuclear medicine, was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment on 18 June 2001 for his open criticism of the state authorities related to scientific research into the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster of 1986,

J. whereas the resolution of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 28 April 2004 acknowledged evidence of involvement of top State officials in the abduction and alleged assassination of leading opposition figures in 1999,

K. whereas in 1999 WRD correspondent Dmitry Zawadzki disappeared and the Belarussian authorities appear to be dragging their feet in the investigation; whereas on 20 October 2004, Weronika Czerkasowa, a journalist from the newspaper Solidarność, was murdered and incidents of violence against journalists are becoming more common,

L.  whereas publishing has been monopolised by the state, and the remaining private publishers face heavy fines if they publish independent newspapers; whereas, as a result, many independent newspapers are published abroad: both Dzien and BDG are published in Russia but are often confiscated at the border by the Belarussian authorities,

M.  whereas the system of distribution of the press has been monopolised by the state company Sajuz Pieczati and by the post office, and all private distribution of mass media was banned in 2004,

N. whereas on 31 May Lukashenko signed Decree 247 'on additional principles governing the use of the words Belarussian and national' which includes a new regulation through which non-state media, organisations and businesses are not authorised to use names containing the words 'Belarussian' or 'national', forcing all newspaper publishers which do have either of these adjectives in their name to re-register under a different name within three months with the requirement to formally close down the paper and apply for new registrations which tend to be rejected on the ground of slight shortcomings,

O.  whereas all television programmes, both national and regional, are in government hands,

P.  whereas the only private radio news station, Radio 101.2, was closed down in 1997, and all remaining private radio stations have had to cede part of their shares to the state and are fully under the control of the regime and the transmission of the last Ukrainian TV channel 'Inter-plus' was banned in Belarus by the Ministry of Information after the 'Eurovision' song contest,

Q.  whereas all Internet connections are through a state-run corporation which has blocked numerous accounts and websites,

R. whereas Belarus is the only European country without contractual relations with the EU due to massive human rights violations and the de facto dictatorship of the so-called 'president' Lukashenko,

S. whereas no political and diplomatic efforts should be spared to bring Belarus back into the European family of nations, thus allowing it to play an important role in the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy,

1. Strongly condemns the Belarus regime’s indiscriminate attacks on the media, journalists, members of the opposition, human rights activists and any person who distributes independent information, who calls for more transparency or 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;

2.  Points out that the majority of Belarussian society has no opportunity to receive independent domestic or European political information, critical reports, information about the activities of the opposition, information about the real economic situation of the country or the present impact on their lives of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986; considers that, particularly in view of the Presidential election in 2006, the society of Belarus must receive independent information about the candidates who will run as competitors to President Lukashenko; believes that this could be realised only with assistance from abroad and calls on the Council and the Commission to act on their responsibility stemming from the Neighbourhood Strategy to support the civil society of Belarus, recognising that the people of Belarus have the potential to bring the country back to democracy;

3. Reiterates its support for the creation of alternative and accessible information sources such as TV and radio stations in neighbourhing countries;

4. Calls on the Council and Commission, in this regard, to make every effort to create a multi-annual programme of support for the independent media in Belarus which will encompass support for independent radio programmes broadcast from Poland, Lithuania and possibly Ukraine, as well as for journalists and independent newspapers;

5. Takes the view that the radio programmes should be in both Belarussian and Russian, should be created by independent journalists from Belarus capable of guaranteeing the authenticity and independence of the programmes and should be made available also over the Internet;

6.  Calls on the Council and Commission to earmark funds available within the EIDHR framework for such an initiative;

7.  Calls on the Council and Commission to create a programme of scholarships and traineeships for journalists from Belarus and to create training programmes for young independent journalists;

8.  Stresses that the creation of the radio network should be part of the support for the remaining independent newspapers and magazines in Belarus and that special support should be given to the non-registered independent press which operates beyond censorship and state control;

9. Emphasises once again that the further development of EU relations with Belarus is linked to the progress made towards democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights and the development of free and transparent media;

10. Calls on the Council and the Commission to raise the issue of Belarus with the Russian authorities so as to define common action to bring about concrete democratic changes in that country;

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.