New “Act on Democracy and Human Rights in Belarus” Passed by the US Congress Essay

One of the main recent issues of current importance in the United States is the “Act on Democracy and Human Rights in Belarus – 2011” approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. The initiator of the foundation of the document became Chris Smith, a Republican congressman.

The Act calls for the immediate and unconditioned release of all imprisoned politicians including those who were detained in the repression after the elections and rejected the results of the fraudulent elections. “Act on Democracy and Human Rights in Belarus – 2011” is one of the most important issues over the recent times of the United States (Belarus Digest, 2011).

The new document caused vivid discussions and debates in the political society. As it was said at the corresponding conference, a new act was created to give a new breathe to the Act of 2004 (Belarus Digest, 2011). It asserts strong policy support by the government of the United States of the Belarusian nation in the struggle against the dictatorship of Lukashenko.

People seek to live in a free and independent country with their human rights respected and the government forces elected. People want to live in the place where the officials apply laws equal for all citizens, where the fighters for life are inspired for decency against overwhelming pressure from anti-democratic regime.

Government in particular is necessary to protect people, manage conflicts, and provide essential services (Wilson, 2011, p.1). The general idea of the document is support of human rights in Belarus provided by the Congress of the United States. According to the adopted act, the U.S. administration is obliged to report to Congress about a sale of weapons abroad by the Government of Belarus, about personal assets and the state of Lukashenko and other senior Belarusian political leaders.

The Congress of the United States claims that the U.S. administration must deny the entry to the country to the high-ranking Belarusian officials, their close relatives and business partners, as well as members of the intelligence agencies participated in the persecutions.

The Congressmen opposed the U.S. Trade and Development to support the Belarusian Government financially (Belarus Digest, 2011). According to their points of view, the United States must continue claiming the Belarusian authorities to account for the disappearance of opposition politicians and journalists and to punish those who are guilty.

It is important for the U.S. government to continue the growth of democratic movements and institutions in Belarus that enable the Belarusian people to stop the rapid development of tyranny in the country. Moreover, the sources of mass media should also be used as an essential support of the movement.

There should be radio, television and Internet broadcasting provided for the Belarusian people in language spoken in Belarus. It is a great step forward in political sphere both for USA and for Belarus. However, there are some opponents to the Act such as Andrew Phedorov who says that the document must be seen as a symbolic gesture of American leadership in foreign policy as the U.S (Belarus Digest, 2011).

Government leads an unproductive line against Belarus and that it is quite inappropriate. According to his view, the Americans are sincere in the efforts to help the democratic changes in Belarus. It is known, that “Congress and the President of the country are rivals”, so the Act is still under the consideration.

One may understand the steps of the government by careful studying of “five principles of politics” (Lowi J, Ginsberg, Shepsle & Ansolabehere, 2010). Hopefully, the civil situation if Belarus will be changed thanks to the document and the problem of tyranny of the country will be solved.

Reference List

Belarus Digest. (2011). Belarus democracy and human rights act passes Congress Committee. Retrieved from Belarus Digest: https://belarusdigest.com/

Lowi J. T., Ginsberg B., Shepsle A. K., & Ansolabehere S. (2010). American Government: Power and Purpose (11th ed.). USA: Boston: W. W. Norton & Company.

Wilson Q. J. (2011). American Government: Brief Version. USA: Boston. Cengage learning (Ed.).