Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

A pluralistic civil society unfettered by harassment and intimidation is central to the development of democratic institutions. Protection of civil society is enshrined in OSCE commitments. Yet, once again, we find civil society in Belarus under attack.

Mr. Chairman, the United States has been advised that on March 1, Belarusian customs officers at the Grodno border crossing with Lithuania detained for six hours and searched 10 political and NGO leaders traveling to an international conference in Lithuania. The delegation was traveling in an OSCE vehicle with diplomatic plates. The vehicle was also searched by the customs officials.

The two-day conference to which these people were traveling was organized by the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences of Vilnius University with the title "Prospects of Cooperation with Belarus."

This conference represented an effort of governments, including a number around this table here, as well as non-governmental institutions, to gather all sides of Belarusian society together for a constructive exchange with the international community of interested observers.

This kind of dialogue is critical to resolving the obstacles that impede democratization in Belarus. We applaud the Advisory and Monitoring Group (AMG) for its efforts to support this dialogue.

However, instead of embracing this opportunity, once again the Belarusian authorities seized the occasion to harass and intimidate, both physically and emotionally, prominent members of Belarusian civil society.

This action is emblematic of the kind of attacks civil society, the independent media, and the labor movement have come under in the aftermath of September's presidential election.

Mr. Chairman, the United States calls upon Belarus to meet the commitments it has made in OSCE documents and its Memorandum of Understanding with the OSCE to support the development of civil society.

Further, the United States calls on the Lukashenko regime to work with the AMG and a new Head of Mission to prevent this kind of incident in the future.

Thank you.