US House backs Belarus protesters

The US House of Representatives approved a bill late Wednesday to support democracy and human rights in Belarus, where at least 250 opposition protesters were arrested earlier in the day. The Belarus Democracy and Human Rights Act of 2011 calls for the release of all political prisoners and refuses to recognize the results of December's elections, widely seen as fraudulent. "This bill encourages those struggling for decency and basic rights against the overwhelming pressures from the anti-democratic regime," Republican Representative Chris Smith, the author of the bill, said in a statement. The bill adds congressional support for US restrictions on senior Belarus government officials, their family members and business partners, as well as security service members involved in the post-election crackdown. Authorities in Belarus arrested at least 250 people Wednesday for taking part in "silent" protests against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko organised on social network sites, according to the local Vyasna rights group. Several journalists were also detained, including reporters for Nasha Niva newspaper, Radio Svoboda, and Interfax news agency Lukashenko launched a crackdown on the opposition -- unprecedented even in his 17 years of authoritarian rule -- after mass protests on the evening of his landslide reelection victory in December. US President Barack Obama last month extended sanctions on Belarus, which have frozen the assets of a number of top officials and banned many from traveling to the United States. The European Union has placed travel bans on and frozen the assets of some 188 individuals, including people from Lukashenko's inner circle and several judges who have issued sentences in the recent trials.