Op-Ed Jan 31, 2024 Alexander Lukashenko’s reign of terror continues in Belarus On Tuesday, the Belarusian KGB descended on the apartments and offices of at least 159 friends and family of political prisoners in a “massive security raid.” At least 100 people were interrogated and at least 26 were arrested on politically motivated charges.
Blog Post Jan 29, 2024 Bloody January Remembered In January 2022, citizens in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan experienced the most violent event in their recent history.
Blog Post Jan 25, 2024 The Aliyev Regime’s Role in the Ethnic Cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians On Sept. 19, Stepanakert, the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, came under a barrage of bombs and artillery fire. Azerbaijan announced the beginning of an “anti-terrorist campaign,” signifying Baku’s final attempt to push ethnic Armenians out of the enclave and reclaim control over its territory.
Op-Ed Oct 27, 2023 Russia’s Slaughter of Indigenous People in Alaska Tells Us Something Important About Ukraine In the racial-reckoning summer of 2020, local leaders in a small American town gathered for a contentious vote on whether to take down a statue that honored a man who was, as one assessment read, “steeped in racial division, violence and injustice.”
Press Release Oct 9, 2023 HRF to UN: Do Not Elect Dictatorships to Human Rights Council On Oct. 10, 193 member states of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) face the crucial task of filling 15 of the 47 seats of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Op-Ed Oct 4, 2023 Russia’s Crimean Red Line Has Been Erased In December 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin stood in the middle of the Kremlin’s St. George’s Hall, delivering his annual address to the country’s Federal Assembly.
Op-Ed Aug 21, 2023 Grassroots organizations must provide humanitarian aid in Ukraine The town of Chasiv Yar is 3 miles from Bakhmut, the frontline city where Ukrainians are slowly repelling the invading Russian army. Chasiv Yar once had a population of over 10,000. Today, virtually every building has been hit by artillery or missiles. Rooftops are caved in, and exteriors are charred. There’s no running water, no electricity.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Show Trials and Political Persecution: Judiciary in Putin’s Russia From Tsarism to the modern era, Russian leaders have attempted to mold the nation’s judiciary for their own gain and employ it as a weapon against their political opponents. In today’s Russia, this is evident by laws that limit anti-government demonstrations and criminalize anti-war speech.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in Mali Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in the Central African Republic Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in Sudan Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 9, 2023 Honoring the Voices of the 2020 Belarusian Protests Today marks three years since the Belarusian people overwhelmingly voted against Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and in favor of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition candidate, only to have Lukashenko impose himself by way of fraud and crush the ensuing protests.
Publication Jun 13, 2023 Russians speak out against Putin’s invasion Russian chess master Garry Kasparov and Evgenia Kara-Murza, wife of jailed opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, talk to CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour about Vladimir Putin’s tight grip on Russian society.
News May 30, 2023 Inside Men – HRF x The Signal When Putin first came to power, part of his message and appeal was that he’d bring an end to the corruption of the oligarchs and a victory for the rule of law in Russia. What happened?
Op-Ed May 28, 2023 HRF Op-Ed: Make Russia Pay For months, the West has fretted over the prospect of paying for Ukraine’s reconstruction. Russia’s war has inflicted an estimated $400 billion in rebuilding costs, a tally that rises every day. Western leaders, already alarmed by inflation and the threat of recession, have understandably blanched over the bill.
News May 12, 2023 Taken – HRF x The Signal No American had been arrested on charges of espionage in Russia since the Cold War—until The Wall Street Journal’s reporter Evan Gershkovich was just less than two months ago.
Op-Ed Apr 28, 2023 Russia has stifled another Putin opponent. Here’s how the West might help him Some 70 US lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, urging the Biden administration to press Russia for the release of imprisoned dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Blog Post Apr 28, 2023 How Alexander Lukashenko Targets the Women of Belarus They stood in rows, all dressed in red and white — the colors of the independent Belarusian flag, used by the opposition and banned by Alexander Lukashenko’s regime. The sight of hundreds of women peacefully marching in protest would become an enduring symbol in Belarus in 2020.
Blog Post Mar 27, 2023 Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine – What’s a Court in the Hague Got to Do With It? On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova for unlawfully deporting and transferring Ukrainian children to Russia.
Blog Post Mar 24, 2023 Women at the Forefront of Democracy: Strength in Eastern Europe A mere 48 hours after the start of Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, the Feminist Anti-War Resistance (FAR) emerged in Russia. FAR has since supported citizens detained at anti-war demonstrations and published a newspaper detailing the realities of the war for people outside of activist circles.
