• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

REPORT ON STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, MARCH 21

There was no regular briefing, but State Department Spokesman Nicholas Burns did speak on-the-record with reporters during a walk-thru informal session. No transcript is available of this briefing.

BELARUS -- The United States has cut off $40 million in Nunn-Lugar assistance to Belarus due to that government's lack of respect for human rights, Burns said. Burns noted that on March 20, twenty people "were rounded up on the streets of Minsk for demonstrating against the government. There are no political freedoms present right now in Belarus."

Burns observed that "I don't believe we have any assistance anymore to Belarus for anything."

Burns noted that Congress mandated that each country receiving certain types of U.S. government assistance under the Freedom Support Act and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Acts of 1992/93 (The Nunn-Lugar Act) be certified for human rights compliance. The State Department has determined that Belarus does not meet internationally recognized standards of respect for human rights.

The U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program will be suspended after activities for which funds have already been obligated reach completion. Funds for the destruction of missile launch pads have already been obligated, and these activities can continue. Other work that had been planned but for which the funds had not yet been obligated will not occur, Burns said.

Burns said that all nuclear warheads that had been in Belarus have been removed to Russia.

Burns said that if human rights certification is possible in 1998 (for Belarus's human rights performance in 1997) or if Belarus's human rights performance improves enough for the United States to be able to certify it later in 1997 for the balance of the year, the United States would be able to resume funding the projects, including elimination of the infrastructure tied to nuclear weapons, disposal of rocket fuel, radiological surveys and full funding of activity to monitor the export of nuclear and other weaponry.