We would like to remind the Council that former Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Chigir remains imprisoned on trumped-up charges. It has now been thirty weeks since the United States first raised this issue before the Permanent Council.

We would also like to call the attention of the Council to the violent suppression by Belarusian authorities of the opposition-organized "Freedom March" in Minsk on October 17.

Drawing over 20,000 Belarusians of all ages, the march was the largest demonstration seen in Minsk in more than three years.

A group of about 5,000 demonstrators was attacked by police and beaten when they tried peacefully to enter central Minsk.

The United States Government calls on Belarus to respect its international obligation to permit peaceful assembly, and to investigate the behavior of its security forces in this incident.

We also urge the immediate release of several opposition figures who were arrested during or after the demonstration.

The U.S. remains concerned about the disappearances of Tamara Vinnikova, Yuri Zakharenko, and Viktor Gonchar.