Plenary sitting
17.10.2012 B7‑0463/2012
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
on the elections in Belarus
( 2012/2815(RSP) )
Libor Rouček, Justas Vincas Paleckis, Kristian Vigenin, Marek Siwiec, Liisa Jaakonsaari
on behalf of the S&D Group
European Parliament resolution on the elections in Belarus
( 2012/2815(RSP) )
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Belarus,
– having regard to EP President Martin Schulz’s statement of 24 September 2012, regretting that parliamentary elections in Belarus have again failed to meet international standards of fair and transparent polls,
– having regard to the statement of 24 September 2012 by the EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Štefan Füle on the parliamentary elections in Belarus,
– having regard to the Joint Declaration of 10 October 2012 by Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on the European and World Day against the Death Penalty,
– having regard to the Council conclusions on Belarus, 3191st Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Luxembourg, 15 October 2012,
– having regard to the Statement of the preliminary findings and conclusions on the parliamentary elections in Belarus by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) as of 24 September 2012,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas non of the parliamentary or presidential elections held in Belarus since 1995 have been recognised by the OSCE as being free and fair;
B. whereas according to the international election observation mission of the OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE PA, in the 23 September parliamentary elections many OSCE commitments including citizens’ rights to associate, to stand as candidates, and to express themselves freely were not respected, despite some improvements to the electoral law; whereas international election observers were not given a meaningful opportunity to observe the count and evaluated the process negatively in a significant number of poling stations;
C. whereas despite the amendments in the Belarusian Electoral Code, the legal framework did not adequately guarantee the conduct of elections in line with OSCE commitments and international standards;
D. whereas according to the Belarusian Central Electoral Commission, 74.3% of voters participated in the elections and 109 of 110 members of the House of Representatives were elected in the first round; whereas in one constituency the minimum required turnout of 50% was not reached; whereas no opposition candidates were elected;
E. whereas some opposition political parties and movements (such as the civil campaign European Belarus and the non-registered Belarusian Christian Democracy party) boycotted the elections while others agreed on conditional participation, also referred to as “active boycott”, i.e. they participated in the electoral campaign but withdrew their candidates prior to the elections, given that conditions for their participation, in particular the release of all political prisoners and a low-level of confidence in the electoral process were not fulfilled;
F. whereas numerous violations were reported by international independent observers; whereas the observation campaign “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” declared that the elections were carried out with serious violations, and that the non-transparency of the counting of votes does not give reason to affirm that the results of the elections express the will of the Belarusian people;
G. whereas among the main reported violations were: pressure on opposition candidates and independent observers during the electoral campaign, unequal representation in the electoral commissions, censorship of candidates’ programmes and presentations in state-owned media, forced voting during the early voting period, serious impediments to the work of observers, non-transparency of early voting, home voting and vote counting, as well as falsification of the turnout;
H. whereas the registration of the candidates was carried out in a discriminatory manner; whereas the majority of denials were received by the initiatives groups of Mikalai Statkevich and Aliaksei Mikhalevich; whereas among others, Alexander Milinkevich, chairman of the Movement for Freedom, and Mikhail Pashkevich, activist of the “Tell the Truth” campaign were denied registration as candidates;
I. whereas during the election campaign the candidates were entitled to a five-minute speech on state radio and state television, as well as five-minute presentation at pre-recorded debates; whereas the coverage of the campaign did not provide a wide range of views due to administrative obstacles; whereas from 27 August 2012, on the basis of a Central Electoral Commission decision, the majority of media outlets refused airtime to candidates who called for an election boycott, while newspapers censored and refused to publish their programmes;
J. whereas the Belarusian opposition contested the result of the elections and stated that it would not recognise the elections due to serious violations; whereas according to the opposition the turnout of the election was only 44%.
K. whereas 12 political prisoners remain in detention in Belarus, including the human rights defender and Vice President of the International Federation of Hunan Rights Ales Bialiatski, former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich and the leader of the youth organisation “Malady Front” Zmitser Dashkevich, who has recently gone on hunger strike in protest against abuse and threats on the part of prison officers;
L. whereas on 13 September 2012 Ales Bialiatski was nominated for the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought;
M. whereas on 26 September 2012 the prominent opposition activist Syarhei Kavalenka was released from prison after he had asked for clemency under increasing pressure from prison authorities, who put him in solitary confinement and blackmailed him; whereas the release of political prisoners is not unconditional, as they are subject to constant surveillance by the authorities, and must regularly report to the police about their whereabouts;
N. whereas Belarus remains the only country in Europe which still issues death sentences and caries out executions; whereas according to human right activists, around 400 people have been executed in Belarus since 1991;
1. Regrets that the Parliamentary elections of 23 September 2012 once again failed to meet international standards of free, fair and transparent elections;
2. Expresses grave concern at the numerous irregularities reported by the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission and considers this vote as another missed opportunity for the Belarusian authorities to hold elections in line with OSCE and all international democratic norms and to move closer to common European values;
3. Regrets the undemocratic nature of the parliamentary election process in Belarus and is of the opinion that the reports of violations of the principles of free and fair elections seriously put into question the validity of the elections’ outcome and the legitimacy of the elected parliamentarians;
4. Continues strongly to condemn the deteriorating situation regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms, combined with the lack of deep democratic and economic reforms in Belarus;
5. Urges the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release and rehabilitate all remaining political prisoners, who were targeted for human rights activism and the peaceful exercise of their rights to freedom of assembly and expression and are being held on unfounded charges;
6. Urges the Belarusian authorities to put an immediate end to arbitrary detention of human rights defenders, the increased use of short-term arbitrary detention and arbitrary travel bans aimed at intimidating representatives of the political opposition and the media;
7. Notes the release of Syarhei Kavalenka as a positive signal, but regrets that this was on the basis of a request for clemency obtained by torture;
8. Calls on the Council and the Commission to continue to support all initiatives aimed at developing the Belarusian democratic civil society, which could result in increasing Belarusians’ political participation and rising awareness of the need for change;
9. Calls on the Council and the Commission to further elaborate the “European Dialog on Modernisation” by developing the capacity and strategically targeting broader circles of the civil society in different sectors in order to maximise the impact of the modernisation programs as well as to increase the transparency and the visibility of the EU among Belarusians;
10. Calls on the Belarusian authorities to take the necessary steps to make full use of the “European Dialog on Modernisation” for the benefit of the Belarusian people;
11. Regrets that the negative assessment of these parliamentary elections will once again impede the European Parliament to establish official relations with the Belarusian parliament; regrets that at this stage the EURONEST PA would not have grounds to invite the official representatives of the legislative body in Belarus to take their seats in the Assembly, thus depriving the Eastern Partnership from one important tool to bring Belarus closer to the EU’s democratic values;
12. Encourages all Belarusian democratic political forces and civil society activists to find an united approach in order to increase the effectiveness of their actions with the aim of establishing concrete programmes of policy change for improving and democratising the lives of the Belarusian people;
13. Reiterates its firm commitment to strengthening the EU engagement with the Belarusian people and the democratic civil society as well as supporting their democratic aspirations;
14. Calls on the EU Member States to further engage with the Belarusian democratic civil society and to either reducing or eliminating visa fees for Belarusian citizens;
15. Again urges Belarus, the only European country which still carries out capital punishment, to introduce an immediate moratorium on executions and to immediately announce a moratorium on the death penalty as the first step towards complete abolition;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the Parliamentary Assemblies of the OSCE and the Council of Europe and the Parliament and Government of Belarus.