Resolution of the Coordination Council

Approved during the meeting of the Coordination Council on 19.08.2020

On August 19, 2020, the Coordination Council, spearheaded by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, held its first meeting.

The Coordination Council aims to facilitate the transfer of power and ensure social cohesion on the  basis of the Constitution. The Coordination Council does not intend to change the constitutional order or the foreign policy of the country.

Numerous violations of electoral legislation were recorded during the elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus on August 9, 2020.

More than 7,000 citizens of the Republic of Belarus have been detained and arrested for political reasons since the start of the election campaign.

Law enforcement agencies have used unacceptable violence against the protesters, which resulted in human casualties. Detainees have been tortured.

The people have lost confidence in the current government and are calling for it to resign.

Many foreign states have not recognized the results of the presidential elections in the Republic of Belarus.

The Coordination Council believes that, in order to restore the status of the Republic of Belarus as a democratic and legal state, it is necessary to meet the basic demands that were developed in the course of mass demonstrations and are supported by the majority of the Belarusian people:

1. Put an end to violence, end political persecution by the authorities and conduct an investigation in accordance with the law.
2. Release all political prisoners, make all illegal court decisions null and void, and provide monetary compensation to all victims.
3. Proclaim the elections held on August 9, 2020, to be null and void. Conduct new elections in accordance with the international standards, with newly formed election commissions, including the Central Commission.

The Coordinating Council believes that the only way to overcome the political crisis is to immediately start negotiations and develop mechanisms to restore the rule of law and hold new elections. By trying to evade these negotiations, the current government becomes responsible for the deepening political and economic crisis in the Republic of Belarus.

The Coordination Council states that, until new elections are called for and until other demands are met, Belarusian people will continue to exercise their civil rights guaranteed by the Constitution, in order to restore legality and justice:

• the right to work and the right to strike, the prohibition of forced labor (Article 41 of the Constitution);
• the right to peaceful gatherings (Article 35 of the Constitution);
• the right to judicial protection (Article 60 of the Constitution);
• the right to free expression of opinions and beliefs (Article 33 of the Constitution);
• the right to receive full and reliable information (Article 34 of the Constitution);
• the right to dispose of one’s property (Article 13 of the Constitution)

The Coordination Council supports the established civil initiatives aimed at helping to preserve jobs and assist everyone who wishes to defend their rights peacefully.