Your Excellency President Volodymyr Zelensky,
Our support for Ukraine remains steadfast, and we commend the courageousness of Your people in standing up against an unlawful and unprovoked military aggression.
We pledge our commitment to upholding democracy, human rights, and the rule of law both domestically and internationally.
The global community was united in its backing of Ukraine and in denouncing Putin’s acts of war, which constitute criminal behaviour. We are aligned with those who have taken measures to ostracize and impose penalties upon Putin’s regime and its associates, while simultaneously exerting our utmost efforts to provide support to the people of Ukraine.
We are writing to warn you about a serious precedent in the global community’s resolve to support Ukraine and impose sanctions on Putin’s regime and its associates
The tennis tournament “Srpska Open” is planned to take place in the city of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, between the 16th and 23rd of Aprilthis year.
This tournament is organized by the regime of the Bosnian entity RS, which is considered to be a close ally of Putin’s government.
This regime has openly expressed its support for Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, and has even gone so far as to celebrate such aggression by awarding Putin a medal of honor, which was presented by the President of RS, Milorad Dodik, in January of this year.
This is not the first time that the RS regime has targeted Ukrainians. It’s important to remember that during the military aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992-95, Ukrainians were persecuted. For instance, the Ukrainian church in Prnjavor was deliberately destroyed despite the absence of military activity in the city at that time.
It is concerning that western companies are sponsoring the tennis players participating in this tournament.
We have written to most of these companies (please see the list below) to inform them that by sponsoring the athletes competing in this event, they are supporting military aggression against Ukraine. This is because the organizer of the event supports military aggression against Ukraine and even celebrates it.
This puts their brand’s reputation at risk.
The behavior of these envolved global brands such as Nike, Lacoste, Wilson Sporting Goods and others is raising important and unsettling questions.
The President of RS Dodik and even the Mayor of Banjaluka Stanivukovic are engaged in public denial of the Srebrenica Genocide.
Therefore, the Office of the High Representative (OHR) has endorsed the commencement of an investigation against Milorad Dodik.
Furtheremore, the President of RS Dodik is openly Islamophobic and the Mayor of Banjaluka Stanivukovic is openly Homophobic. Stanivukovic banned the LGBT activity in Banjaluka.
The leadership of the RS regime is also publicly denying the genocide in Srebrenica. Furthermore, they are publicly Islamophobic and anti-LGBT+.
Genocide denial is insulting to the victims of genocide. Islamophobia is insulting to the global Muslim population. Homophobia is insulting to the whole global LGBT+ population.
These companies are global leaders in their respective industries, and we believe that they should have conducted due diligence and been aware of these facts.
What motivates them to jeopardize their brand’s reputation by offending various groups of people globally?
This raises the unsettling question: Are they deliberately sending the message that the West is abandoning Ukraine?
We hope that is not the case!
While brave Ukrainians are dying for freedom, a tennis tournament celebrating the military aggression against Ukraine is taking place.
We are calling upon you, President Zelensky, to raise your voice against the moral travesty behind this tournament.
Слава Україні!
Sincerely,
The Institute for the research of genocide Canada
List of sponsors:
Artengo, Asics, Audemars Piguet, Australian Brand Apparel, Babolat, De Bethune, Diners Club Peru, DIRECTV LatinAmerica,
Dunlop, Emporio Armani EA7, eToro, Evian, Fila, Fromm AG, Head, Hublot, Hydrogen, IGMA Sports, Indian Maharadja, Jetcraft,
Joma, K-Swiss, La Sante, LaceClips, Lacoste, Lavazza, Le Coq Sportif, Lotto, Mizuno, Nike, Old Pilot’s Gin, ROKiT,
Rolex, Rublo, Swiss Education Group, Tecnifibre, TGV Lyria, TK Plus, Twitch, VTB Bank, Wilson Sporting Goods,
Wilson Tennis, Yonex, Ziggo Sport
