2006 press releases

U.S. Embassy Reaction to Remarks of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Regarding the U.S. State Department Report "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005-2006"

The United States remains committed to its international obligations and the approaches to international cooperation formulated in a number of international documents, including the OSCE Charter for European Security, signed by both the President of the United States and the head of state of the Republic of Belarus, among other leaders of OSCE participating states, in Istanbul on November 19, 1999.

Paragraph seven of that Charter reads quite clearly: "...All OSCE commitments, without exception, apply equally to each participating State...Participating states are accountable to their citizens and responsible to each other for their implementation of the OSCE commitments. We regard these commitments as our common achievement and therefore consider them to be matters of immediate and legitimate concern to all participating states."

Paragraph twenty-five of the Charter reads: "We reaffirm our obligation to conduct free and fair elections in accordance with OSCE commitments, in particular the Copenhagen Document of 1990... We agree to follow up promptly on the ODIHR's election assessment and recommendations."

The United States, as an OSCE participating state, calls upon Belarus, as an equal participating state, to fulfill its commitments and obligations under the OSCE Charter for European Security, and to refrain from comments and actions that would seem to violate those very commitments and obligations, including dismissing the legitimate concerns of participating states as interference in the internal affairs of Belarus.