April 19, 2021-The U.S. government today announced it is taking action in response to “sharply deteriorating human rights situation in Belarus” since the widely disputed August 2020 election.
Since the election, hundreds of thousands of people have protested in the streets to protest the presidential rule of Alexander Lukashenko. The government responded with a violent crackdown. Today the government holds at least 340 people captive as political prisoners, according to the U.S. State Department.
The 2020 Elections
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recognized Lukashenko as the president of Belarus while the European Union and the United States consider the election to be illegitimate. The EU has said the election was “neither free nor fair” and has issued multiple rounds of sanctions against high-level Belarusian officials and entities. The U.S. government has prior restrictions on trade with Belarus over anti-democratic actions, including sanctions filed in December 2020 relating to the elections and the violent crackdown of protestors.
State-Owned Enterprises to Be Blocked from U.S. Transactions
Today’s action gives notice to U.S. businesses and individuals that within 45 days, they may no longer conduct trade with nine enterprises owned by the government of Belarus. It replaces a general license with one that calls for a “wind down” of any transactions with the following entities: Belarusian Oil Trade House, Belneftekhim, Belneftekhim USA, Inc., Belshina OAO, Grodno Azot OAO, Grodno Khimvolokno OAO, Lakokraska OAO, Naftan OAO, and Polotsk Steklovolokno OAO.
The U.S. Treasury Department originally named the primarily petrochemical companies in 2007 and 2008 to express opposition to the government’s undermining of democratic processes and to political repression, according to a 2007 Treasury release.
Belarus Trading Partners
It’s unclear what impact the actions have. Belarus primary exports its goods to Russia,Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland. The country mostly imports from Russia, China, Poland, Germany and Ukraine, according to 2018 data by the World Bank. Belarus exported less than 1 percent of its total goods in 2018 to the United States.
Political Prisoners in Belarus
Regardless of the weight of today’s action, it does draw attention to the political prisoners in Belarus. According to Human Rights Watch, the government’s riot police used excessive force during the August 2020 protests and initially detained 7,000 people. By mid-November that number grew to 25,000.
In today’s release, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken cited 340 political prisoners and called for their release. “The United States calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those unjustly detained or imprisoned,” Blinken said. “Respect for human rights, the rule of law and Belarus’ commitments to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe remain central to improving bilateral relations.”
Meanwhile, Vladimir Makei, the foreign minister for Belarus met with a number of heads of international organizations, including UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. According to a release by the Belarus Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Makei informed the interlocutor about the national context of the search for a national balance of interests in the closely intersecting spheres of national security, sustainable development and Human Rights.”
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