U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee calls for new sanctions against Belarusian authorities

<p> MINSK, Feb 26 - PrimePress. The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee passed on February 25, 2021 a resolution, calling for additional sanctions against Belarusian authorities. The session was broadcasted on the Committee’s YouTube channel. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Committee members unanimously voted for a package of resolutions, which included a document titled “On supporting the people of Belarus and their democratic aspirations, and condemning the fraudulent elections and subsequent brutal crackdown on peaceful protests by the illegitimate Lukashenko regime.” </p> <p>   </p> <p> The resolution sent to the Committee on February 15 says that the House of Representatives does not consider the election in Belarus free and fair and does not recognize the voting results. </p> <p>   </p> <p> The House of Representatives calls for further targeted sanctions coordinated by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and other allies and partners against the Belarusian authorities who have violated human rights, and the representatives of the Election Commission involved in actions resulting in falsified election results on August 9, 2020. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Another paragraph contains a call to consider imposing sanctions against Belarusian state-controlled companies, which have “directly violated the rights of their employees due to their involvement or in connection with the current democratic movement in Belarus.” </p> <p>   </p> <p> Also, the resolution calls for the release of all detainees and for President Alexander Lukashenko to enter into “an open and constructive dialogue with members of the opposition.” </p> <p>   </p> <p> The resolution is yet to be approved by the full House of Representatives, after which it will be sent to the U.S. Senate for consideration. </p> <p>   </p> <p> Massive protest actions against the official voting results began in Belarus after the presidential election of August 9, 2020, in which Lukashenko was declared the winner for the sixth time with 80.1% of the vote. According to official reports, over 7,000 people were detained, hundreds injured, and three killed in the first few days (August 9-11) alone. As many as 2,000 facts of beatings and torture have been reported. After that, European countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies imposed personal sanctions against a group of Belarusian officials, including Lukashenko, and a number of Belarusian companies, Beltechexport, Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, Dana Holdings managed by Serbian businessmen, and Synesis IT company among them. The EU said it would expand the sanctions against Belarus, unless the situation in the country improves. End </p>

2021-02-27

Primepress