Blog Post Oct 18, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 4: Soviet Sports propaganda When Tsar Peter I — better known as Peter the Great — visited England in 1689, he arranged what has been called the “first international boxing match” in the garden of the nobleman’s home.
Newsletter Oct 17, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #45 In North Korea, citizens face a devalued currency and strict control over foreign currency as the regime tries to trap people in the collapsing North Korean won.
Press Release Oct 17, 2024 HRF Brings UN Attention to Rights Abuses in Two Countries Last week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted contributions to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) regarding Laos and Türkiye.
Publication Oct 10, 2024 Press inquiry from Jilil Kashgary of RFA Uyghur regarding the opening of a Skechers store in Urumchi As the US Department of Homeland Security expands its ban on Uyghur forced labor products, the famous American footwear company Skechers has opened its first footwear store in Urumqi.
Newsletter Oct 10, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #44 Last week, HRF hosted the second annual Global Bitcoin Summit, bringing together more than 125 human rights defenders, Bitcoin developers, social entrepreneurs, and UI/UX designers from more than 60 countries at the beautiful Bitcoin Park in Nashville, Tenn.
Announcement Oct 8, 2024 Register Now for the Human Rights Foundation’s Online Activist Academy The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is thrilled to invite you to register to participate in our Online Activist Academy, a self-paced course tailored for activists and civil society leaders who defend human rights and promote democracy within authoritarian regimes.
Newsletter Oct 3, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #43 In Kuwait, the government is escalating surveillance by mandating biometric fingerprint data for all citizens and threatening to restrict their financial accounts, assets, and government services if they fail to comply.
Op-Ed Sep 30, 2024 America’s Adversaries Are Targeting Its Cities and States Last week, federal prosecutors launched a bombshell indictment against sitting New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Op-Ed Sep 28, 2024 The Indictment of Eric Adams Shouldn’t Surprise Us The new, unsealed indictment against Eric Adams, accusing him of a range of crimes over nearly a decade, is significant for any number of reasons
Newsletter Sep 26, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #42 In Zimbabwe, the regime’s new ZiG currency is rapidly losing value, depreciating by up to 80% on the parallel market as citizens lose confidence in the state’s latest monetary experiment. Despite government interventions — including creating artificial scarcity, freezing bank accounts, and arresting currency traders — Zimbabwe is on the brink of yet another currency failure.
Newsletter Sep 19, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #41 This week, authoritarian regimes continued to use financial repression tactics to target dissidents and opposition movements. In Nicaragua, the National Assembly unanimously approved a reform allowing the regime to prosecute and seize the assets of exiled citizens.
Announcement Sep 17, 2024 HRF Bitcoin Development Fund Grants 1 Billion Satoshis to 20 Projects Worldwide The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce 1 billion satoshis of gifts from its Bitcoin Development Fund.
Publication Sep 16, 2024 RFA reporter Gulchehra on China promoting Uyghur forced labor through Uyghurs in the region One of the Chinese government’s tactics in countering accusations of “genocide” and “forced labor” is to use Uyghurs as a vehicle to deny and justify these atrocities.
Press Release Sep 13, 2024 HRF calls for the unconditional release of Indian human rights activist Umar Khalid On the fourth anniversary of his arrest and at the beginning of his highly anticipated trial, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) calls on the Indian government to immediately release activist Umar Khalid from his excessively long and arbitrary pretrial detention.
Newsletter Sep 12, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #40 This week, Bitcoin took center stage in Venezuela’s struggle for financial freedom. After the Maduro regime brazenly stole the country’s presidential election, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado spoke in an exclusive interview with the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), where she called Bitcoin a “lifeline” and a “vital means for resistance” for Venezuelans suffering under repression and hyperinflation.
Blog Post Sep 6, 2024 A History of Sports & Dictators, Part 3: Post-WWII Soft Power Long before the inception of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece, sports have been used to distract the masses, test foreign policies, thaw diplomatic tensions, and broadcast political and social messaging.
Video Series Sep 6, 2024 The Uyghur Region | The Struggle for Freedom, Explained In this episode of “The Struggle for Freedom, Explained” Jewher Ilham, renowned Uyghur advocate and daughter of Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and Peter Irwin, Associate Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, explain the Chinese regime’s targeted human rights abuses of the Uyghur people, and how China is exploiting Uyghurs for its economic goals. Watch the episode to learn more.
Op-Ed Sep 5, 2024 Despots and oligarchs have many means to meddle in American politics As well as the colourful details of corruption on a grand scale—the gold bars, the cash stashed in boots and jackets—a particular point stood out during the conviction in July of Bob Menendez, then the senior Democratic senator for New Jersey, on charges including bribery and fraud.
Newsletter Sep 5, 2024 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #39 In Syria, Bashar al-Assad’s economic policies continue to devastate the lives of millions while he enforces a tight grip on power. Manipulated currency exchange rates and strict monetary controls have deepened poverty and wreaked havoc on the Syrian lira’s value, offering a sobering view into the impact of authoritarian rule on the financial freedom of everyday citizens.
Press Release Sep 5, 2024 HRF interviews Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on financial repression and freedom On Thursday, Bitcoin Magazine published a video of the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) chief strategy officer, Alex Gladstein, interviewing María Corina Machado, leader of Venezuela’s democratic opposition, about the destruction the Chavismo have caused to Venezuela’s monetary system and how many Venezuelans use Bitcoin to escape or find their financial freedom.
