Biden Urged To Pay Attention To Another Problem In Belarus

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The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) highlighted the negative trajectory for religious freedom conditions in Belarus, according to the Pozirk newspaper.

This statement was made because, on January 3, Aliakasandr Lukashenka signed amendments to the laws on the activities of religious organizations.

The USCIRF states that the amendments “retain the most regressive provisions of the country’s 2002 religion law and impose more undue restrictions on religious communities.”

“Instead of repealing its highly restrictive religion law enacted over two decades ago, which did not meet international human rights standards, Belarusian officials have doubled down and implemented a more repressive religion law that grants the government unbridled control over religious communities and their affairs,” said USCIRF Chair Abraham Cooper.

“Communities will face the daunting choice of practicing their religion or belief ‘illegally’ or submitting to a brutal regime that uses indiscriminate force and intimidation against its own people,” he said.

The statement noted that after the 2020 protests, the authorities "have sought to eliminate independent civil society and subjugate all aspects of social life to state control and surveillance."

Belarus’ new religion law imposes “strict, burdensome requirements on religious communities and includes vague prohibitions that will likely curtail the peaceful expression of religious beliefs.”

“The law requires religious communities to reregister within a year, which is expected to result in the deregistration of dozens of small religious communities, as occurred after the enactment of the country’s 2002 religion law,” the USCIRF notes.

“The Biden administration and Congress must prioritize religious freedom as part of U.S. government efforts to hold Belarus accountable for its gross human rights violations,” said USCIRF Vice Chair Frederick A. Davie.

The USCIRF is an independent advisory body of the US government, established by Congress on a bipartisan basis. Monitors the observance of religious freedom around the world and develops policy recommendations for the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress.