21 September 2020

...We are Belarusian professionals working in Britain. We write to draw your urgent attention to the ongoing human rights violations in Belarus and to make several requests for actions by Societe Generale in relation to its engagement with Belarus...

The Belarusian authorities took unlawful measures, disproportionate in their cruelty, against peaceful demonstrators. At least six people have been killed and hundreds injured as police have aggressively dispersed peaceful protesters with rubber bullets, clubs and stun grenades. More than 11,000 demonstrators (many of whom were women, including pregnant women, and some were as young as 13 and as old as 73 years old) were arrested, detained and penalised without due court process. Witnesses have confirmed mass rapes, tortures and psychological abuse of those people in jails...

Societe Generale entities, by virtue of being one of the joint lead managers and bookrunners, played a key role in the Bond Issue. As a result, Lukashenko’s regime got access to funds and the additional financial strength to enable violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations, limit free speech and falsification of the election results on 9 August 2020...