Appeal from the Belarus Democratic Forum
To the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump
The Belarus Democratic Forum expresses its profound gratitude for the efforts undertaken by the United States of America to secure the release of political prisoners in Belarus. We are sincerely thankful that it was through the political will and principled stance demonstrated by your team that the release of some individuals who for years had been unlawfully held in Belarusian prisons for their beliefs, participation in peaceful protests, and struggle for freedom became possible.
It must be emphasized that these steps were made possible thanks to the persistent and targeted actions of the Belarus Democratic Forum. Once it became evident that certain organizations, which for the past five years had been collecting donations allegedly to aid political prisoners, were in fact exploiting this tragic issue for personal enrichment and actively sabotaging the genuine release of prisoners of conscience we deemed it essential to intervene.
Attempts to substitute systematic human rights advocacy with performative acts such as “sending postcards to prisoners” turned out to be little more than a façade tools of simulated activity with no real intention to solve the problem. In response, we initiated three appeals to global leaders, signed by Nobel laureates, calling for the immediate release of all political prisoners in Belarus. One of the key recipients of these letters was President Donald Trump.
We submitted appeals to the White House administration, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and to General Keith Kellogg. These included concrete proposals for international pressure measures and diplomatic mechanisms capable of influencing the Lukashenko regime and achieving the release of individuals unlawfully deprived of their liberty.
We now call on President Donald Trump and his administration to continue these efforts. Approximately 1,300 people remain behind bars in Belarus, repressed solely for their political views and peaceful advocacy of civil liberties. We urge President Trump to intensify his efforts to:
- Secure the immediate release of all remaining political prisoners;
- Ensure the closure of all fabricated criminal cases brought against citizens for expressing their civic stance.
The full release of all political prisoners will mark a crucial step toward resolving the profound political crisis in Belarus, enabling the return of hundreds of thousands of forced exiles and restoring the nation’s path toward freedom, democracy, and sustainable development.
Should the release of all political prisoners be achieved, the Belarus Democratic Forum intends to appeal to the Nobel laureates who endorsed our initiative to nominate President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his contribution to the defense of freedom, human rights, and the liberation of political hostages in the heart of Europe.
Respectfully,
The Belarus Democratic Forum