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“I urge you, the elected representatives of the American people, to continue to act decisively. We call on the United States, along with its European partners, to participate in international mediation,” said Cichanouskaya, who spoke virtually to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Congress.
He also called on the United States to “further isolate Lukashenko through its diplomacy.”
The authoritarian Belarusian president, Lukashenko, has secured a sixth term in last August’s elections, which the opposition and western democracies consider manipulated.
Cichanouskaya, 38, whom the opposition and the West see as the real winner, withdrew to Lithuania after the elections after the Minsk regime began to persecute opposition activists and arrest hundreds of people involved in mass protests. Many of them were sentenced to severe prison terms.
In April, the United States lifted sanctions on nine state-owned companies after Lukashenko ignored calls to release political prisoners detained during anti-government protests.
Cichanouskaya praised the US Treasury Department sanctions as “one of the most effective measures,” but called on the United States to punish other actors in the country.
He also called on the US Congress to consider increasing support for civil society organizations in Belarus, as well as independent media and the private sector, as he said the European Union is doing.
Furthermore, the Belarusian opposition leader noted that there was no meaningful conversation among international powers on how to end the nine-month political crisis in her country.
“We call on the United States to play an active role in organizing such an international conference, involving a wide range of stakeholders,” Cichanouskaya said.
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