Press Release Apr 1, 2025 HRF Brings UN Attention to Rights Abuses in Four Countries Last week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted contributions to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review regarding Belarus, Honduras, Libya, and Malawi.
Press Release Mar 28, 2025 HRF succeeds in UN petition: Bolivia condemned for arbitrary detention of democratically elected governor The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes the decision of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) ruling that the arrest of Santa Cruz Governor Luiz Fernando Camacho in Bolivia was arbitrary and in violation of international law. HRF submitted the petition on behalf of Camacho in February 2023.
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.
Press Release Mar 12, 2025 HRF celebrates the release of ‘Rule Breakers,’ a movie on Afghanistan’s Roya Mahboob “Rule Breakers,” in theaters now, tells the true, inspiring story of Afghan tech entrepreneur, HRF friend, and Oslo Freedom Forum speaker Roya Mahboob, who took the great risk of teaching young girls in Afghanistan about technology and robotics.
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 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.
Announcement Feb 24, 2025 Chevron and Harry Sargeant Are Financing Dictator Nicolas Maduro — When Will the U.S. Stop It? Venezuelan dictator and drug cartel kingpin Nicolas Maduro has a $25 million bounty on his head.
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.
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 31, 2025 The prize that matters for Swaziland In December, the Secretary of State honored prominent Swazi human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko with the Human Rights Defender Award.
Press Release Jan 10, 2025 HRF condemns Nicolás Maduro’s coup in Venezuela; asks Trump admin to rescind OFAC licenses held by Chevron and others The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) strongly condemns the sham inauguration of dictator Nicolás Maduro as Venezuela’s reelected president following his regime’s blatant electoral fraud on July 28, 2024, and calls on the U.S. government to rescind Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licenses granted to companies doing business with the Venezuelan regime.
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.
Press Release Dec 23, 2024 HRF hosts inaugural NK Insider Forum in Seoul, South Korea On Dec. 19, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) hosted the inaugural NK Insider Forum, a unique conference addressing critical issues related to North Korean human rights.
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 19, 2024 Authoritarian incumbents claim most of 2024 elections across Africa More than 15 national elections took place across the African continent (including North Africa) in 2024.
Press Release Dec 19, 2024 HRF Submits UNWGAD Petition for Equatoguinean Lawyer Anacleto Micha Ndong Nlang This week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted an individual complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) and an urgent appeal to several UN Special Procedures, including the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (UNWGEID), on behalf of Equatoguinean lawyer and human rights activist Anacleto Micha Ndong Nlang.
Blog Post Dec 19, 2024 Legitimizing Aggression in Russia’s 2024 Vote Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia entered a period of profound political and economic change.
Blog Post Dec 19, 2024 Elections In Georgia: At the Crossroads between Russia and Europe Countries that once were democratic continued the descent into authoritarianism.
