News Oct 20, 2025 Cuban Dissidents in Electoral Challenge as Castro Era Nears End Under Cuba’s one-party system, civic associations of individuals whose will to participate in the political life is legitimate from the standpoint of a democratic society, are considered and treated as illegal, and criminalized by the government with the official labels of “worms,” “scum,” “mercenaries,” “terrorists,” and “counter-revolutionaries.”
News Oct 19, 2025 U.N. Peacekeeping Chief Issues Warning on South Sudan The leader of United Nations’ peacekeeping operations offered a dire appraisal of South Sudan on Tuesday, saying the world’s youngest nation is sliding further into mayhem with no sign that its antagonists want peace.
News Oct 18, 2025 Kenya election commissioner flees days before new vote, saying it cannot be fair Kenya election commissioner flees days before new vote, saying it cannot be fair. One of Kenya’s top officials in charge of overseeing next week’s presidential election resigned Wednesday, fled the country and said the upcoming vote could not be fair.
Blog Post Oct 18, 2025 Today CCP opened its 19th Party Congress. We call for the release of Gao Zhisheng on this occasion. October 18th marks the beginning of China’s dictatorial Communist Party’s 19th Party Congress. On this occasion, HRF calls for the release of Chinese human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng.
News Oct 18, 2025 Why Uzbek Government Still Forces People To Pick Cotton Can you imagine living in a place where every year the government forces you to pick 50 kilos of cotton, every day, for 12 straight days, for just 5 cents a kilo? That’s the reality in Uzbekistan.
News Oct 17, 2017 Russian opposition leader’s fraud conviction arbitrary, Europe’s top rights court says STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) – Europe’s top human rights court ruled on Tuesday that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s conviction for fraud in 2014 had been “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable”..
Press Release Oct 17, 2025 OFF Speaker Pierre Claver Mbonimpa Awarded the Civil Courage Prize NEW YORK (October 17, 2017) — On October 18, Burundi’s most prominent human rights defender and 2010 Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) speaker, Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, will be awarded the Train Foundation’s 2017 Civil Courage Prize.
News Oct 17, 2025 UN elects Congo to Human Rights Council despite abuses UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and human rights groups sharply criticized Monday’s U.N. election for 15 new members of the Human Rights Council, singling out conflict-torn Congo’s victory despite accusations of serious rights abuses and an investigation by the U.N.’s top human rights body.
News Oct 16, 2017 Kyrgyz Candidate Alleges Violations In Presidential Vote, But Suggests He Will Accept Result The chief rival of the candidate authorities say won the presidency in Kyrgyzstan has alleged the voting was marred by violations but suggested he would not challenge the official result, potentially paving the way for a peaceful transfer of power.
Press Release Oct 16, 2017 China: HRF Publishes Report by Missing Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng NEW YORK (October 16, 2017) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has published Gao Zhisheng’s “2016 Human Rights Report for China.” Gao is a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer who was imprisoned in his home in Shaanxi Province in 2014.
Press Release Oct 14, 2017 HRF Awarded D&AD Wood Pencil Prize NEW YORK (October 14, 2017) — The Human Rights Foundation’s Flash Drives for Freedom program has been recognized by D&AD and Advertising Week as a big idea that is making a difference in the world by using creativity for good.
Blog Post Oct 13, 2017 The Russia Download // Special issue on elections and disinformation Last week, Facebook’s disclosure that an estimated 10 million people in the United States saw political ads bought by accounts connected to the Russian government rekindled the conversation about Russia’s interference in the U.S. elections.
News Oct 13, 2017 Bolivia: President Evo Morales’ bid to extend term limits sparks mass protest Thousands of Bolivians have taken part in protests against President Evo Morales’ bid to run for a fourth term. Morales’ party asked…
News Oct 13, 2017 World must wake up to crackdown in Cambodia, says exiled opposition politician A senior Cambodian opposition figure has called for the world to wake up to a calculated campaign by long-time prime minister Hun Sen to batter the remnants of its democracy ahead of elections next year.
News Oct 12, 2017 Congo Elections Won’t Be Held Before April 2019 Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that were due last year won’t be held before April 2019, the electoral commission said, a delay that undermines a pact President Joseph Kabila’s supporters made with his political opponents for him to step down this year.
News Oct 12, 2017 Egyptian Activist Receives a Top Human Rights Award GENEVA — A prominent Egyptian lawyer and activist was awarded a Swiss-based foundation’s prestigious human rights award on Tuesday, drawing international attention to the Egyptian government’s crackdown on civil rights groups.
News Oct 11, 2017 Wall Street Journal Reporter Sentenced to Prison by Turkish Court A Turkish court sentenced Wall Street Journal reporter Ayla Albayrak to two years and one month in prison Tuesday, declaring her guilty of engaging in terrorist propaganda in support of a banned Kurdish separatist organization through one of her Journal articles.
News Oct 11, 2017 Are North Korea and Cuba Democracies? Watch this excellent defense of common sense by Cuba expert John Suarez who debated a British apologist of the Castro dictatorship, Mr. Robert Miller, regarding the most recent diplomatic crisis between the U.S. and Cuban governments caused by a sonic attack that injured over 15 American diplomats in Havana. In the context of the debate and as he found himself out of arguments in defense of the Castro regime, Mr. Miller was cornered into stating on air that both the Cuban and North Korean totalitarian regimes were, in fact, democracies.
News Oct 10, 2017 Babanov Campaign Accuses Kyrgyz Election Officials Of Backing Ruling Party Candidate Kyrgyz presidential candidate Omurbek Babanov’s campaign team has accused election officials of obstructing his campaign and backing the candidate favored by outgoing President Almazbek Atambaev.
News Oct 10, 2017 Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga withdraws from Oct. 26 election re-run Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says the new election will go ahead despite the opposition candidate’s withdrawal.
