Press Release Dec 12, 2025 Following HRF Petition, UN Experts Condemn Egypt for Arbitrary Detention The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) received a favorable opinion from the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), finding Egypt’s detention of human rights defender Ahmed Amasha arbitrary under international human rights law.
Publication Nov 9, 2025 A huge, flying conflict of interest What does Qatar want from America? Nick Cleveland-Stout on Doha’s massive influence operation in Washington.
Human Rights Dispatch Nov 7, 2025 Assassin’s sentenced in Masih Alinejad murder-for-hire plot. Two Russian mafia members have each been sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to assassinate Iranian dissident @AlinejadMasih in New York in a plot orchestrated by the Iranian regime.
Human Rights Dispatch Oct 27, 2025 AI at Oslo Innovation Week, Anniversary of Sudan’s 1964 revolution At Oslo Innovation Week 2025, HRF hosted a powerful conversation that explored AI, corporate power, and human rights.
Blog Post Oct 6, 2025 The Riyadh job Fifty comedians playing in Saudi Arabia, millions of dollars, and one head-scratcher: Why are they doing this?
Press Release Sep 30, 2025 HRF statement on Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) calls on the comedians scheduled to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival either to cancel their participation or to use the festival as a platform to denounce the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia.
Op-Ed Jun 17, 2025 Sarkozy-Gaddafi Trial Exposes Corruption’s Impact on Libyans The corruption trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in France is testing the country’s democratic resilience and the judiciary’s capacity to act as a counter-power to leaders bending democratic rules.
Op-Ed May 9, 2025 Why is Saudi Arabia at the Gold Cup? It’s the latest in the Kingdom’s soft power campaign Last month, the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) held an official draw in Miami, Florida for the 2025 Gold Cup, the premier biennial tournament for men’s football on the continent.
Press Release Mar 14, 2025 HRF succeeds in UN petition, Iran condemned for arbitrary detention The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) ruling that Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi’s two arrests and more than 753 days of detention were arbitrary and in violation of international law.
Blog Post Mar 11, 2025 The Playbook: How Syria’s brutal Assad regime used football to maintain power Welcome to The Playbook, an explainer series from HRF’s Sports & Dictators program that explores the intersection of sports and politics in authoritarian regimes and decodes the disturbing narratives behind the games we love.
Press Release Feb 11, 2025 HRF Celebrates the Release of Saudi Academic Salma al-Shehab The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) celebrates the release of Saudi Ph.D. student and women’s rights activist Salma al-Shehab from a Saudi prison.
Blog Post Feb 10, 2025 The Playbook: How Saudi Arabia Uses Tennis to Present a Facade of Women’s Reforms When Saudi Arabia hosted one of the most important events in professional women’s tennis, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, in November, it wasn’t, of course, without controversy. The New York Times put it this way:
Blog Post Jan 8, 2025 Corruption Trails CBDC Projects in China, Nigeria, and Lebanon Central bankers have a corruption problem. Recently, Yao Qian, the former head of the People’s Bank of China’s research into central bank digital currency (CBDC), was removed from office and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party for engaging in corruption.
Press Release Dec 20, 2024 HRF celebrates the release of Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani On December 10, Iranian cartoonist Atena Farghadani was released from Evin Prison
Blog Post Dec 17, 2024 Elections in MENA: Youth as the Key to Change Sixty-five elections were held around the globe in 2024.
Press Release Dec 9, 2024 Assad regime overthrown after 53 years of repression and brutality; pivotal opportunity to establish rule of law and individual rights On Sunday, the Assad regime in Syria shattered after militants captured Damascus, causing Bashar Al-Assad and his family to reportedly flee to Moscow, Russia.
Publication Dec 3, 2024 Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi released from prison London — Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian dissident rapper and activist, has been released from prison, according to a statement issued Monday by his international legal team.
Press Release Dec 2, 2024 HRF celebrates the release of Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi Iranian dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi was released on Sunday after spending 753 days in arbitrary detention.
Publication Dec 2, 2024 Iran frees rapper Toomaj Salehi jailed for supporting protests The Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was sentenced to death in April for his support of anti-regime protests, has been released from prison by the Iranian authorities.
Publication Dec 2, 2024 Iranian rapper freed after death sentence overturned An Iranian rapper who was sentenced to death for supporting anti-government protests has been released from prison after two years.
