Press Release Oct 13, 2026 Navalny’s Lawyers mark 3 years since arrest NEW YORK (Oct. 13, 2026) — Three years ago today, Russian police arrested Vadim Kobzev and Alexei Liptser, two of the lawyers for the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) marks this anniversary by calling for the immediate release of Kobzev and Liptser, who remain imprisoned in harsh conditions in Russian penal colonies solely for doing their jobs as lawyers.
Press Release Oct 13, 2026 Uzbekistan: Release Political Prisoner Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov and Investigate New Torture Allegations Authorities in Uzbekistan must immediately release political prisoner Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov and investigate his allegations of torture, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR), Association for Human Rights in Central Asia (AHRCA), Freedom Now, Civil Rights Defenders, and the Human Rights Foundation said in a statement today.
Blog Post Oct 13, 2026 Joshua Wong: A Boy, A Ballot, A Cell During Joshua Wong’s first stint in prison at age 20, he read 777 pages of letters sent to him. He worked in the canteen and complained about the rules: Prisoners’ cups had to go on the floor, not on desks. “No” had to become “Sorry, sir.” Joshua joked that years of video games and Japanese anime had not prepared him for drills.
Newsletter Oct 10, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #21 El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is rolling out AI-powered public services that could boost his popularity — even as democratic checks on his power continue to erode — and expand his access to citizens’ personal data.
Announcement Oct 10, 2026 HRF Launches Resilience Program to Address the Psychological Toll of Authoritarian Repression NEW YORK (Oct. 10, 2026) — On World Mental Health Day, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is proud to announce the launch of its Resilience Program, a new science-based initiative to strengthen the mental health, leadership capacity, and long-term effectiveness of human rights defenders operating under authoritarian regimes.
Newsletter Oct 8, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #141 In India, Apple removed Bitchat from the country’s App Store after the government ordered the company to block the offline messaging app.
Newsletter Oct 2, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #20 This week, we discuss how Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States reflects the Chinese regime’s significant influence over the future of artificial intelligence (AI).
Blog Post Oct 2, 2026 “I beg you to help me”: Uzbekistan’s Ongoing Detention and Torture of Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov HRF has received a desperate letter containing disturbing updates about Uzbekistan’s treatment of detained Karakalpak activist, Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov.
Newsletter Oct 1, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #140 This week reminds us how fragile financial access can be in difficult political environments. In Iran, Tehran prosecutor Ali Salehi announced that the regime had identified and frozen 2,191 bank accounts belonging to 394 people accused of collaborating with a “hostile enemy.”
Announcement Sep 30, 2026 NPR’s Weekend Edition goes inside HRF’s AI hackathon in Washington, D.C. HRF’s AI Hack for Freedom III was featured on National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition. Millions of listeners across the United States heard about our two-day hackathon that brought together human rights defenders from around the world with developers, technologists, and AI experts.
Newsletter Sep 28, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #19 In Iran and China, state-backed actors are using AI to run autonomous influence campaigns. These actors can now deploy hundreds of AI agents to create social media accounts and flood platforms with political content, marking a new era of authoritarian propaganda.
Press Release Sep 25, 2026 Announcing the Winners of AI Hack for Freedom III WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 25, 2026) — On Sept. 24 and 25, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) co-hosted AI Hack for Freedom III, the third edition of a hackathon aimed at building digital tools that directly address the needs of human rights defenders under authoritarian regimes, with a prize pool of $50,000.
Newsletter Sep 24, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #139 In Russia, organizers of an international youth festival reportedly created multiple versions of the internet, including an unrestricted network for foreign visitors and a censored one for Russian citizens.
Report Sep 22, 2026 AI for Activists: A Guide to Supercharging Your Movement with Artificial Intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is often described as the most transformative technology of our time. Its meteoric development is reshaping industries, economies, and the way people work, communicate, and create. Governments are investing billions of dollars into it. Corporations are racing to build ever more capable AI systems. News headlines alternate between promises of extraordinary breakthroughs and warnings about existential risks.
Newsletter Sep 18, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #18 This week, China’s top civilian intelligence official warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could pose a security threat to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rule. He pointed to risks including AI-generated political content against the CCP, AI-powered cyberattacks, and sensitive data leaks, while calling for tighter state control over AI.
Announcement Sep 18, 2026 Introducing Updates to the CBDC Tracker One of the most meaningful aspects of running the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Tracker at the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has been listening to public feedback. Building a tool is one thing; building one that people find valuable is another.
Newsletter Sep 17, 2026 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #138 In Iran, the clerical dictatorship doubled the price of gasoline beyond subsidized quotas from 5,000 to 10,000 tomans per liter. With inflation above 87% and food prices also doubled, security forces are now deployed around fuel stations in at least 11 cities.
Report Sep 15, 2026 Risks Beyond Wrongdoing: Traveling to China On Sept. 15, 2026, China’s new Regulations on Exit and Entry Administration will enter into force. Although the regulations do not create a blanket new exit ban power over foreign visitors, they do further formalize a wider legal system in which the boundaries of prohibited conduct are difficult to anticipate and meaningful avenues for challenging government action are limited.
Announcement Sep 14, 2026 HRF Co-sponsors AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., Sept. 24–25 WASHINGTON D.C. (September 14, 2026) — The Human Rights Foundation will co-sponsor the AI Hack for Freedom III in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 24 and 25. This AI-powered hackathon, the third of its kind this year, is designed to put world-leading human rights activists as captains of teams of engineers to build powerful new tools to scale the work of the people and movements challenging authoritarianism worldwide.
Newsletter Sep 11, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #17 In Taiwan, officials revealed that Chinese tech companies are ramping up efforts to recruit Taiwanese engineers and gain access to the island’s AI chip expertise.
