July 16, 2021 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. President of the United States of America The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: We American friends of democratic Belarus thank you for your support of the Belarusian people in your meetings with U.S. allies, friends, and partners as well as for your administration’s actions to increase sanctions against the Lukashenka regime and his enablers.

The Honorable David Malpass President of the World Bank Group Dear Mr. Malpass, We, the members of Belarus Freedom Forum, would like to bring to your attention our concerns about the ongoing Belarus Higher Education Modernization Project (ID #P167992) and call on the World Bank to halt any lending to the Republic of Belarus and reallocate the funds associated with it. Providing funds to the state-owned higher education system of Belarus is immoral and counterproductive, as the current atmosphere of intimidation and the ongoing political repressions against students and faculty make any improvement and innovation highly unlikely.

The Honorable David Malpass President of the World Bank Group: Dear Mr. Malpass, Belarus Freedom Forum, a US-based organization of Belarusian-Americans and Belarusians living in the United States, is contacting you regarding the Belarus Emergency Covid Response Project by the World Bank (ID #P173828). Under the terms of this project, the Republic of Belarus is to receive a loan of 98.5 million USD. Part of the loan has already been disbursed.

Intense crackdown on remaining independent media, repressions against Lukashenka’s political rivals & Belarus isolation continues Top Stories Jul 9: Belarus scales up crackdown on independents media The country’s law enforcement agencies have raided offices of several media outlets and conducted more than 30 searches at the offices and journalists’ apartments in the past two days. The state declared the raids and following arrests a part of a broad operation against “radical-minded individuals”, who have consistently covered months of protests and repressions that followed.

Love cannot be compelled - Artist: Lilia Kvatsabaya Top Stories Jul 3: Lithuania declares state of emergency due to migration surge from Belarus After detaining 150 illegal migrants who crossed the border from Belarus in one day, Lithuania declared a state of emergency. Lithuania government officials stated that the decision was made to access reserve state financing and find new ways to deal with the illegal immigration influx. The border tensions between Lithuania and Belarus are part of a standoff between Brussels and Minsk that escalated in May.

Human Rights violations tracker - International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Top Stories Jun 21: EU, US, UK, Canada join forces to slap sanctions on Belarus The four have imposed travel bans and asset freezes on 78 Belarus officials and 8 entities. A total of 166 people and 15 entities are now under EU restrictive measures. EU foreign ministers agreed to sanction key sectors of the Belarusian economy and major revenue sources for the regime: potash fertilizer exports, the tobacco industry, petroleum, and petrochemical products.

Artist: Lilia Kvatsabaya Top Stories Jun 14: Opposition says jailed Belarusian blogger paraded as ’trophy’ in latest public appearance Several news agencies left the press conference after jailed Belarusian journalist Roman Pratasevich joined the four uniformed officials there. Even though Pratasivech denied any wrongdoing by the state authorities after the plane carrying him was forced to land in Minsk, most of the opposition figures called his admissions coerced. “No matter what he says, let’s not forget: he is a hostage.

Belarus flight diversion - Patrick Chappatte (Der Spiegel) Top Stories Jun 10: Poland hits back as Belarus makes a Soviet invasion anniversary a public holiday Poland has criticized Belarus for establishing a holiday dedicated to people’s unity on 17 September - the day the USSR invaded Poland and Ukraine during World War II. “The establishment of a Day of People’s Unity to mark Belarus’s inclusion in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is the glorification of Soviet heritage and an attempt to cut Belarus off from its true roots," Poland said.

Dear Mr. President: The Belarus Freedom Forum appreciates your earlier statements regarding the democratic movement in Belarus. We thank you for voicing your support for the Belarusian people and strongly condemning the Lukashenka regime. We are addressing you in connection to your upcoming summit with Russian President Putin. In their struggle for freedom, the Belarusian people are standing up not only to the brutal authoritarian rule of Lukashenka but the only strong ally of the regime, the Russian Federation.

Raman Pratasevich, journalist kidnapped from hijacked Ryanair plane - coerced to do an interview on Belarus state television (ONT TV Channel/Reuters) Top Stories Jun 4: Detained Belarus dissident breaks down in state TV interview, renewing fears of coercion and torture Footage of kidnapped journalist Raman Pratasevich that aired on Belarusian state television has raised concerns that he was being coerced to take part in political propaganda under duress. Opposition leader in exile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya suggested that Pratasevich was beaten and tortured in prison to issue his statements, as well as apparent bruises and wounds on the wrists of the journalist can be seen during the interview.