Blog Post Mar 20, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #66 In Thailand, the government announced a third digital cash handout to “stimulate the economy and drive technological adoption.”
Announcement Mar 13, 2025 HRF & The Signal release newspaper on corruption The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is excited to announce the release of “Altered States,” a limited-run newspaper examining how dictators use power and illicit wealth to undermine democracy and strengthen authoritarianism. The newspaper explores the question: How much influence do foreign autocratic regimes have on democracies?
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 13, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #65 In Iran, lawmakers impeached the economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, following the Iranian rial’s rapid collapse, with the currency plunging to 1 million per dollar.
Blog Post Mar 6, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #64 In Nicaragua, the regime is increasingly cracking down on civil society, imposing new financial regulations on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that require them to disclose donors and report all financial transactions — further restricting their ability to operate independently.
Blog Post Feb 27, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #63 In Nigeria, financial officials are revising digital asset regulations to impose taxes on digital asset transactions on regulated exchanges.
Press Release Feb 25, 2025 HRF celebrates the release of Belarusian dissident Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) celebrates the release of Belarusian dissident Palina Sharenda-Panasiuk, who was released on Feb. 2, after spending 1,491 days in arbitrary detention.
Blog Post Feb 20, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #62 This week, we honor the loss of the late Alexei Navalny, whose bravery inspired millions of Russians to stand up against Vladimir Putin’s financial, political, and social repression.
Reports Feb 13, 2025 HRF pens open letter to John Legend The Human Rights Foundation has learned of your plans to perform in Kigali, Rwanda, on Feb. 21, 2025, as part of Move Afrika — a collaboration between the Rwandan government, Global Citizen, and pgLang.
Blog Post Feb 13, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #61 This week, we highlight how authoritarian regimes are manipulating digital assets. The Central African Republic launched a government-backed meme coin that crashed spectacularly within a day of launch as regime insiders cashed out for profits, leaving the public with worthless tokens.
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 Feb 6, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #60 In India, the central bank has taken a significant step toward launching its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital rupee. In partnership with fintech firms Mobikwik and Cred, the digital rupee is now available to 180 million users through a new “e₹ wallet,” a CBDC wallet app designed for public use.
Blog Post Jan 30, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #59 This week, authoritarian regimes augmented their control and monitoring of online spaces in an attempt to suppress the dissenting voices of those they have financially repressed.
Blog Post Jan 23, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #58 In Iran, officials are accused of exploiting a recent currency devaluation to profit at the public’s expense.
Blog Post Jan 16, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #57 In Burma, the military junta introduced a far-reaching cybersecurity law that criminalizes privacy tools like VPNs and mandates online platforms to store and share user data with state officials.
Blog Post Jan 11, 2025 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #56 Welcome to 2025! As the year begins, authoritarian regimes have swiftly escalated financial repression, intensifying efforts to dismantle civil society, undermine due process, and suppress dissent.
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 27, 2024 HRF submits UNWGAD petition on behalf of Vietnamese activist Nguyễn Chí Tuyến This week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted an individual complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) on behalf of Nguyễn Chí Tuyến, a prominent Vietnamese activist and blogger also known as Anh Chí.
Blog Post Dec 26, 2024 Financial Freedom Report #55 In Russia, the State Duma passed sweeping amendments granting officials the ability to equate “funding extremist activities” with “financing terrorism.”
