TEMPLATE + SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Dear friends – if you work in a large organization with a significant global presence, this letter may be for you. This letter is not just for companies that already work with Belarus, you can use this letter to raise awareness about the human rights issues in Belarus as well as inform your company about how to donate to causes supporting Belarus. Additionally, please share this letter with your friends outside of the US as it can be used for companies anywhere.
We realize that not everyone would be able to send this letter to the highest-ranking executive. Kindly use your judgment to determine who might be the appropriate contact for your company.
Good luck and please let us know at DemocracyforBelarus@gmail.com if you have previously explored similar initiatives/submission status/outcome.
Company Outreach – Filing Instructions
Please use the form below to send a message to the:
Best: CEO
Better: Another business leader in your organization (e.g. EVP, CFO, etc.)
Good: Community engagement leader (an HR or other executive in charge of philanthropy and/or community relations). The title for this person will vary from company to company but you should reach out to your Human Resources to inquire who would be the appropriate person to support this initiative.
We realize that not everyone would be able to send this letter to the highest-ranking executive. Kindly use your judgment to determine who might be the appropriate contact for your company.
Please feel free to add your personal details as needed. Information in black square brackets needs to be replaced with information personal to you. Once such replacements are made, please delete all square brackets and instructions in red. This information needs to be inserted:
1. Name of your CEO /another officer, philanthropy, and/or community relations professional.
2. Details about your background (optional).
3. Your company’s name.
4. Details about your company doing business with Belarusian state actors (optional).
If you have any technical issues or questions about the form, please reach out to democracyforbelarus@gmail.com.
Once submitted, please email democracyforbelarus@gmail.com, indicating the name of your company/executive you reached out to. This will help us track the outreach.
Thank you for your support! Please share this form with your friends and partners.
You can also access the text of the letter here
Dear Mr. /Ms. [_____] [Address to (i) CEO, (ii) another business leader in your organization, or (iii) a community engagement leader]
This message is not related to work, but it is very important to me, and I hope you can see why.
[If you are from Belarus: I am originally from Belarus. [Add any other personal details] Events there since the presidential election of August 9th have shaken me.] [Alternative for those not from Belarus: I am not from Belarus, but events there since the presidential election of August 9th have shaken me.] I am asking for your assistance to help prevent an unfolding human rights crisis and support the people of Belarus in their struggle for free and fair elections by issuing a public statement on behalf of [Company Name] and suspending any business with authorities and state entities in Belarus until the country holds new elections.
The results of the presidential election on August 9th were blatantly falsified. Widespread protests in response were met with unprecedented violence by the riot police. Over 7,000 people were detained, scores were injured with rubber bullets and stun grenades; hundreds were severely beaten and tortured in detention centers. There are confirmed reports of multiple deaths during the protests and while in police custody, and dozens of people have disappeared. State factory workers joined the protest movement, and most recent demonstrations gathered hundreds of thousands of people across the entire country. The European Union, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Canada refused to recognize the self-proclaimed president as legitimate and the U.S. announced that the presidential election was neither free nor fair. Still, the arbitrary detentions of ordinary Belarusians continue, and hundreds of peoples remain in detention centers. Furthermore, the dictatorship regime in Belarus is continuing to utilize repressions and violence against the protesting public and journalists covering the protests, including with the assistance from Russia.
As a result, many international and domestic IT companies issued statements calling to stop violence perpetuated by the regime, and to conduct new elections, some already moved their staff to other countries to protect their employees. I ask that you support this trend and issue a statement on behalf of [Company Name] supporting the peaceful protests in Belarus, the right of people to free and fair elections, as well as condemning torture and violence used by the security forces in Belarus. I also would like to call on [Company Name] to consider donating to organizations supporting human rights and civil society in Belarus as well as provide matching donations for your employees. Finally, I urge [Company Name] to discontinue any business with entities having ties to Belarusian state actors, since such business strengthens the oppressive regime. [Add more details if you know that your Company does business with Belarus’ government or state-owned enterprises]
Thank you for your support and solidarity,
[Signatory Name]
***
Please see below the following resources covering events in Belarus:
Please consider donating to the Human Rights Foundation (Belarus) or Freedom House to support democracy in Belarus:
· Please donate to Human Rights Foundation (Belarus) (https://defendbelarus.funraise.org/) or to Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org/)
· If you chose to donate to Freedom House, once the donation has been submitted, please email Sofya Orlosky, Senior Program Manager, Eurasia, (orlosky@freedomhouse.org) earmarking your donation “for support of democracy in Belarus”.
For more information, please see the file below
If you have any technical issues or questions about the form, please reach out to democracyforbelarus@gmail.com
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