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.
Blog Post Feb 24, 2023 February 24, One Year Later: Putin’s Playbook On Feb. 24, the Russian army, on the orders of Vladimir Putin, began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation of just over 43 million people.
Blog Post Feb 24, 2023 February 24, One Year Later: Repression in Russia On Feb. 24, the Russian army, on the orders of Vladimir Putin, began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation of just over 43 million people.
Blog Post Feb 24, 2023 February 24, One Year Later: Hope on the Humanitarian Front On Feb. 24, the Russian army, on the orders of Vladimir Putin, began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a sovereign nation of just over 43 million people. The attack —preceded by the annexation of Crimea, an armed conflict in the Donbas region, and never-ending propaganda on Russian TV —has upended world order and undermined the international security system that has been forming since the end of World War II.
Blog Post Jan 25, 2023 Champion of Solidarity: African Democracy Defenders Standing With Ukraine Last month, thousands took to the streets of China in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s severe pandemic lockdowns. The demonstrations were not only a rallying cry for the end of the country’s rigid COVID restrictions; they were also a showcase of the people’s determination for freedom and human rights.
Blog Post Jan 11, 2023 Meet HRF Freedom Fellow Volya Vysotskaia Meet HRF Freedom Fellow Volya Vysotskaia, a Belarusian human rights activist who exposes repression and torture by state officials.
Blog Post Jan 11, 2023 Trials in Absentia: Lukashenko’s Latest Act of Repression The anti-government protests in Belarus over the last two years may have died down, but the country remains marred by violent repression and the clamping down on dissidents.
Blog Post Dec 21, 2022 Champion of Courage: How Ukraine is Fighting For its Future Last month, thousands took to the streets of China in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s severe pandemic lockdowns.
Announcement Oct 8, 2022 OFF Speakers Oleksandra Matviichuk & Ales Bialiatski Awarded Nobel Peace Prize Today, Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, Belarus’ Ales Bialiatski, and Russia’s Memorial were awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
Blog Post Aug 9, 2022 Why We Must Remember Belarus in 2022 Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the 2020 presidential election in Belarus. During this election, the people of Belarus made it clear that they reject the presidency of Alexander Lukashenko — a brutal dictator who has ruled the country since 1994 — by voting instead for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and choosing a free and democratic path for their country.
Blog Post Aug 1, 2022 Resident Artist Spotlight: Lilia Kvatsabaya In August 2020, Lilia Kvatsabaya, a Belarusian graphic design student, found herself amid the largest protests in the country’s history.
Blog Post Jul 20, 2022 Belarus’ Lukashenko is Challenging International Norms. We Must Stop Him. Entire cities besieged and razed to the ground, millions of people displaced, hundreds of billions of dollars worth of destruction, and, most tragically, thousands of people killed and grieving lost loved ones — that is a reality for millions of Ukrainians whose country was invaded by Russia’s Vladimir Putin almost five months ago.
