Press Release Oct 17, 2025 OFF Speaker Pierre Claver Mbonimpa Awarded the Civil Courage Prize NEW YORK (October 17, 2017) — On October 18, Burundi’s most prominent human rights defender and 2010 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) speaker, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, will be awarded the Train Foundation’s 2017 Civil Courage Prize.
News Oct 17, 2025 UN elects Congo to Human Rights Council despite abuses UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and human rights groups sharply criticized Monday’s U.N. election for 15 new members of the Human Rights Council, singling out conflict-torn Congo’s victory despite accusations of serious rights abuses and an investigation by the U.N.’s top human rights body.
News Oct 12, 2017 Congo Elections Won’t Be Held Before April 2019 Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that were due last year won’t be held before April 2019, the electoral commission said, a delay that undermines a pact President Joseph Kabila’s supporters made with his political opponents for him to step down this year.
News Oct 10, 2017 Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga withdraws from Oct. 26 election re-run Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says the new election will go ahead despite the opposition candidate’s withdrawal.
News Oct 9, 2017 LGBT people in Egypt targeted in wave of arrests and violence Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in Egypt are living in fear following a wave of arrests and violence.
News Oct 6, 2017 Police Tear-Gas Kenyan Vote Protesters as Crowds Gather in Cities In the lead up to the presidential election re-run that will be held later this month, the opposition has made calls for the removal of members from Kenya’s electoral commission after the Supreme Court cancelled the presidential election result from this past August citing irregularities.
News Oct 4, 2017 Rwanda Charges Critic of President With Inciting Insurrection KIGALI (Reuters) – Rwandan authorities have charged a critic of President Paul Kagame with inciting insurrection and forgery after she was barred from challenging him in August elections, the public prosecutor’s spokesman said on Wednesday.
Press Release Sep 28, 2017 HRF Demands Release of Political Cartoonist in Equatorial Guinea Esono Ebalé was arrested on September 16 in Malabo, the country’s capital, while leaving a restaurant with the head of the Spanish Cooperation Agency for International Development.
Press Release Aug 9, 2017 Rwanda: HRF Condemns Kagame on Façade Election The country’s National Electoral Commission announced that President Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) won 98.63% percent of the vote, an outcome that upholds the country’s authoritarian status quo due to a lack of true electoral competition.
News Jul 6, 2017 Evan Mawarire in Deutsche Welle A Harare court on Friday denied Evan Mawarire, a Zimbabwean pastor and activist, bail. The judge said that Mawarire had to remain in custody as he was at risk of flight.
Press Release Jun 26, 2017 Angola Indicts Oslo Freedom Forum Speaker The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the June 20 indictment of award-winning investigative journalist and human rights advocate Rafael Marques de Morais by Angola’s Office of the Attorney General.
Press Release May 15, 2017 Uganda: Drop “Cyber-Harassment” Charges Against Activist for Facebook Posts The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the arbitrary arrest of women’s rights activist and researcher Dr. Stella Nyanzi, and calls on the Ugandan government to drop all charges against her.
Press Release May 5, 2017 Havel Prize Recognizes Efforts in Bahrain, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2017 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.
News Apr 19, 2017 HRF writes on Zimbabwe election One year ago today, an advertising professional-turned-Evangelical pastor draped Zimbabwe’s flag over his shoulders, logged on to Facebook and delivered a passionate appeal to his fellow countrymen.
News Mar 1, 2017 HRF in Newsday GENEVA-based Human Rights Foundation (HRF) last week submitted a request to the United Nations (UN) for an investigation into the arrest and detention of cleric and #ThisFlag movement founder, Evan Mawarire on his return to Zimbabwe last month.
Press Release Feb 27, 2017 HRF to UN: Investigate Evan Mawarire’s Arbitrary Detention in Zimbabwe On Wednesday, February 22, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) discussed the arbitrary detention of Zimbabwean activist Evan Mawarire in a set of high-level meetings with representatives from the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), and the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders.
Press Release Feb 18, 2017 HRF to Testify Before U.S. Senate Kasparov will offer his expert testimony at 2:45 p.m. It will be broadcast live on the U.S. Senate website.
Press Release Feb 8, 2017 Zimbabwe Releases Activist from Illegal Detention But Will Not Drop Charges Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the release of #ThisFlag movement founder Evan Mawarire in Zimbabwe, and asks the government to drop all charges against him.
Press Release Feb 1, 2017 Zimbabwe Arrests Evangelical Pastor on Return from New York Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the arbitrary arrest of human rights activist and civil society leader Evan Mawarire in Zimbabwe.
Press Release Dec 12, 2016 Canada, U.S., Estonia: HRF Supports Legislation to Reject Dictatorship Enablers The Magnitsky Law, if adopted, will allow Canada to sanction foreign officials who commit gross human rights abuses abroad by restricting their entry into the country and freezing their assets.
