Press Release Feb 13, 2018 Umbrella Movement Leaders Freed — For Now NEW YORK (February 13, 2018) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the decision of Hong Kong’s highest court to overturn the prison sentences of student protesters Joshua Wong, Alex Chow, and Nathan Law, who led the 2014 Umbrella Movement.
Media Feb 2, 2018 Kenya arrests lawyer, keeps TV stations shut (Reuters) – Kenya on Friday arrested an opposition lawyer and defied a court order to lift a ban on three private television stations that had covered the symbolic presidential inauguration…
Press Release Feb 2, 2018 Venezuelan Political Police Arrests 85-Year-Old Intellectual NEW YORK (February 2, 2018) – The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) strongly condemns the violent raid and arbitrary arrest of Venezuelan historian Enrique Aristeguieta Gramcko and calls on the Venezuelan dictatorship to release him immediately. Mr. Aristeguieta is an 85-year-old Venezuelan attorney
Media Feb 2, 2018 Tehran hijab protest: Iranian police arrest 29 women (The Guardian) – Although women in Iran have fought against the hijab for nearly four decades, the new wave of protests has grabbed more attention and sparked a debate rarely…
Media Jan 31, 2018 Thailand charges eight activists as public frustration at junta grows (Reuters) – Thailand on Wednesday charged eight activists of a civil rights group with violating the military government’s ban on public gatherings, after it kicked off a cross-country march on…
Media Jan 30, 2018 European Court Says Russia Violated Rights Of Bolotnaya Protesters (Radio Free Europe) – The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Russia violated the rights of three men who were jailed in connection with a protest on…
News Jan 26, 2018 Human Rights Defenders sentenced to 7 and 14 years by Saudi Court This morning, January 25, 2018, the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC) handed down jail sentences of seven years for rights activist Abdullah bin Mudhhi al-Atawi and 14 years for rights activist…
News Jan 25, 2018 Violence in CAR Sparks ‘Unprecedented’ Levels of Displacement (UN News Centre) – Surging violence in the Central African Republic (CAR) has put unprecedented numbers of people on the run, the United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday, reporting that…
News Jan 25, 2018 Rights group fears for detained Bahrain activist BEIRUT — A human rights group says the life of an imprisoned activist in Bahrain is at risk because he has been denied adequate medical care and is being held…
News Jan 25, 2018 Thailand charges nine in anti-government protests dating to 2013 (Reuters) – Thailand on Wednesday charged nine leaders of anti-government protests in 2013 and 2014 with inciting insurrection and sedition in an attempt to oust Yingluck Shinawatra, who was prime…
Media Jan 23, 2018 Sweden Wants Answers About Its Seized Citizen. China Isn’t Giving Any. BEIJING — China on Tuesday publicly rebuffed demands by Sweden for information on the fate of a Swedish citizen who was snatched off a train in China by plainclothes officers…
Media Jan 17, 2018 Vietnam upholds jail term for dissident amid crackdown on activists HANOI (Reuters) – A court in Vietnam upheld a five-year prison sentence on Monday for a dissident convicted of anti-state activities who violated the terms of his probation, state media…
Media Jan 17, 2018 Joshua Wong Sentenced in Hong Kong for Role in Umbrella Movement (The New York Times) – The democracy activist Joshua Wong was sentenced to three months in prison on Wednesday for his role in a protest in 2014 demanding freer elections…
News Jan 15, 2018 Bahrain court upholds jail sentence against rights activist Rajab (Reuters) – Bahrain’s top court on Monday upheld a two-year prison sentence imposed last year by a lower tribunal on rights campaigner Nabeel Rajab over comments he was alleged to…
News Jan 12, 2018 Azerbaijani Journalist Gets Six-Year Sentence (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) – A court in Azerbaijan has sentenced journalist Afqan Muxtarli to six years in prison after convicting him of smuggling and other crimes in a politically…
News Jan 11, 2018 Ethiopia top opposition figure gets prison time for contempt (ABC News) – One of Ethiopia’s most prominent opposition politicians has been sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court along with three others after they sang a protest song during proceedings.
News Jan 10, 2018 Rights Groups Condemn Chechnya Activist’s ‘Abduction’ (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) – Human rights groups in Russia and abroad are condemning the detention of a leading activist in Chechnya on a narcotics charge they contend was fabricated,…
News Jan 5, 2018 Kyrgyz Opposition Politician Jailed For Corruption (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) – A court in Bishkek has sentenced Kyrgyz opposition politician Kanatbek Isaev to 12 years in prison on corruption charges.
Press Release Jan 4, 2018 UNWGAD Affirms HRF Petition on Detention of 18 Turkmen NEW YORK (January 4, 2018) — Last Friday, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) published a decision calling for the immediate release of 18 Turkmen individuals who were arrested for exercising their freedom of association in the fall of 2016.
News Jan 3, 2018 Deaths and detentions as Cameroon cracks down on anglophone activists (The Guardian) – Felix Agbor Nkongho looked over his shoulder at a secluded Yaoundé cafe. As a leader of Cameroon’s growing anglophone rights movement, he had reason to be on his guard.
