Belarus, a country of 9.5 million people which gained its independence in 1991, has the worst human rights and democracy record of any country entirely located in Europe. Since his election as president in 1994, Aliaksandr Lukashenka has consolidated his rule over all institutions and undermined the rule of law through authoritarian means, including manipulated elections and arbitrary decrees.  Under his rule, all presidential and parliamentary elections, including the most recent presidential election held in October 2015, have been neither free nor fair and have fallen well short of international standards. The government restricts fundamental civil liberties, including freedom of speech, press, assembly, association, and religion.  The democratic opposition and NGOs operate in an exceedingly difficult environment.  Due to the lack of political and economic reforms, Lukashenka’s Belarus is especially vulnerable to Russia.

The Commission has been outspoken in championing democracy and human rights in Belarus, having held the overwhelming majority of Congressional hearings, public briefings, and meetings that have taken place on Belarus.  Most notably, Commission Chairman Rep. Chris Smith has authored three public laws on Belarus – the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004, the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006, and the Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011.  A Commission-led visit in 2009 which met with both Lukashenka and the democratic opposition was the largest Congressional delegation to date. Commission staff has observed all elections in Belarus in the last two decades with only one exception.