BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
29/06/2009
US lawmakers to visit Belarus
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A group of senior US lawmakers will travel to Belarus this week in the highest-ranking US congressional delegation to visit the country in more than a decade, officials confirmed Monday.
Democratic Senator Benjamin Cardin and Democratic Representative Alcee Hastings, co-chairs of the US-Helsinki Commission, are leading the group, which also includes the number two Democrat in the Senate, Richard Durbin.
The officials declined to provide precise details on the visit, citing security concerns.
The US State Department has been fiercely critical of what it referred to in a February report as the "very poor" human rights situation in Belarus.
"Government authorities continued to commit frequent serious abuses. The right of citizens to change their government was severely restricted. The government failed to account for past politically motivated disappearances," it said in the report.
Source:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/090629/usa/belarus_diplomacy_politics_congress_visit_1
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