27 February 2003
U.S. Challenges Belarus on Democratization, Human Rights
(Feb. 27; Ambassador Stephan Minikes to Permanent Council) (640)
U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Stephan Minikes took the occasion February
27 of the seating of the Belarus delegation in the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly on procedural grounds to challenge the Belarusian government
to take meaningful steps towards democratization and respect for human
rights.
Speaking to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna, Minikes said, "The
U.S. subscribes to a step by step approach in relations with Belarus
and feels that positive, meaningful steps towards democratization and
respect for human rights should be reciprocated. Conversely, disregard
for international standards should not be rewarded. For some time now,
we have not seen significant Belarusian steps towards respect for
these norms."
He noted that even many delegations that voted in favor of seating
Belarus emphasized earlier ad hoc OSCE Working Group remarks saying
Belarus has made "no progress towards ending the climate of
repression, allowing media freedom, allowing the parliamentary entity
to exercise the normal powers of a parliament, or bringing its
electoral practices into line with democratic standards."
Recalling the Belarus government's earlier assertions that it will
move forward with OSCE commitments if its delegation is seated in the
Assembly, Minikes said the "onus is now on Belarus to take concrete
steps" to move forward. "We hope that Belarus seizes that
opportunity," he said.
Following is a transcript of Minike's remarks:
(begin transcript)
United States Mission to the OSCE
Vienna
February 27, 2003
STATEMENT ON BELARUS
As delivered by Ambassador Stephan M. Minikes to the Permanent Council
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We have noted the decision of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly to allow representatives of the Belarusion
National Assembly to occupy the Belarusian seat in the Parliamentary
Assembly. This is the decision of the parliamentarians from OSCE
participating States and, of course, does not reflect the position of
the executive branch of the governments of those states.
More importantly, we understand from the debate last week and from the
concluding statement of the President of the Parliamentary Assembly,
that this decision was based on a technical determination that the
rules of the Parliamentary Assembly required seating the delegation
regardless of the failure of the Belarusian regime to meet any of the
criteria established by European institutions for normalizing
relations with Belarus.
Indeed, the head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly ad hoc Working
Group, and many delegations that voted even in favor of seating the
Belarusian delegation on procedural grounds, emphasized that Belarus
had made no progress towards ending the climate of repression,
allowing media freedom, allowing the parliamentary entity to exercise
the normal powers of a parliament, or bringing its electoral practices
into line with democratic standards. However, some argued that
inclusion will offer Belarus an opportunity to work to build relations
and improve its implementation of OSCE commitments and to meet other
international standards.
The U.S. subscribes to a step by step approach in relations with
Belarus and feels that positive, meaningful steps towards
democratization and respect for human rights should be reciprocated.
Conversely, disregard for international standards should not be
rewarded. For some time now, we have not seen significant Belarusian
steps towards respect for these norms.
The Belarusian government has long argued that if its parliament were
seated in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, it would be prepared to
move forward towards meeting criteria that reflect OSCE principles and
commitments. As a result, the onus is now on Belarus to take concrete
steps that produce progress on criteria established by the
international community, including through cooperation with the OSCE
Office in Minsk and with other OSCE institutions.
Belarus now has the opportunity to prove that those who argued that
inclusion would result in reform were indeed correct. We hope that
Belarus seizes that opportunity.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
