Press Release Oct 14, 2015 Cuba: HRF Celebrates Life and Legacy of Laura Pollán HRF volunteers filmed this only a few months prior to Pollán’s abrupt and mysterious death in a Havana hospital.
Press Release Oct 9, 2015 Nobel Peace Prize: HRF Welcomes Recognition of Tunisia’s Civil Society The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) welcomes today’s announcement by the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarding the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet.
Press Release Oct 2, 2015 HRF to Saudi Arabia: Halt Beheading and Crucifixion of Activist Ali Mohammed al-Nim The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the death penalty imposed on Ali Mohammed al-Nimr and urgently calls on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to halt his execution and order a retrial of his case.
News Sep 23, 2015 HRF pres. on the arrest of his cousin, Leopoldo Lopez, in Venezuela HRF president Thor Halvorssen published the following article in The Daily Beast upon the jailing of his cousin, Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, after a sham trial engineered to eliminate him as a political threat.
News Sep 17, 2015 Miami Herald reports on Leopoldo Lopez’s arbitrary arrest The trial and conviction of opposition leader Leopoldo López by a kangaroo court in Caracas last week is more than just another outrage by the political gang running Venezuela.
Press Release Sep 16, 2015 Inter-American Court: HRF Welcomes Judgment in Favor of RCTV The court’s decision holds that the Venezuelan state violated the freedom of expression of RCTV’s shareholders and employees, as well as that of the “Venezuelan people, who were deprived of access to RCTV’s editorial line.”
News Sep 11, 2015 LA Times on Leopoldo Lopez’s sentencing Human rights organizations Friday condemned a Venezuelan court’s sentencing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez to more than 13 years in prison for allegedly inciting violence in nationwide protests that left 43 dead in early 2014.
Press Release Sep 10, 2015 Venezuela: HRF Condemns 13-Year Prison Sentence Against Leopoldo López The judge sentenced López to 13 years and 9 months in prison—of a maximum possible of 14 years under Venezuela’s Criminal Code—after declaring him guilty of allegedly committing the crimes of arson, damages to public property, incitement to commit a crime, and conspiracy.
Press Release Sep 9, 2015 HRF Urges President Obama to Press Saudi King for Release of Imprisoned Activists Last week, ahead of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud’s visit to the White House, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), with other international human rights organizations and activists, sent a letter to President Obama.
Press Release Aug 26, 2015 HRF to Cuba: Free El Sexto El Sexto was arrested on December 25, 2014 while he was on his way to put on a performance art piece called “Rebelión en la Granja”—the title in Spanish of George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm—which included two pigs decorated with the names Fidel and Raúl.
Press Release Aug 25, 2015 Egypt: Release Photojournalist “Shawkan;” Dismiss Case Against Him The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the arbitrary detention of Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, best known as “Shawkan,” and calls on the government of Egypt to immediately release him.
Press Release Aug 19, 2015 Venezuela: HRF Condemns $365 Million Lawsuit Against Independent Media In the case of the digital newspaper La Patilla—the only one so far served with the suit—Cabello is demanding $365 million in damages.
Press Release Aug 17, 2015 Bahrain: Release Ebrahim Sharif; Drop Incitement Charges Against Him The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the arbitrary detention of prominent Bahraini opposition leader Ebrahim Sharif, and calls on the government of Bahrain to immediately release him.
Press Release Aug 17, 2015 Ecuador: HRF Comments on Arrest of Journalist & Dismissal of Deportation Case Picq was arrested on Thursday along with her partner, indigenous leader Carlos Pérez Guartambel, while taking part in massive demonstrations against the policies of President Rafael Correa’s government.
Press Release Aug 13, 2015 HRF Condemns Threats Against Lead Singer of Porno para Ricardo The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) strongly condemns the harassment and threats made by Cuban state security agents against Gorki Águila, lead singer of the anti-dictatorship rock band Porno para Ricardo.
Press Release Aug 10, 2015 RECAP: HRF puts Gabon’s human rights and corruption crisis in the news This week HRF drew attention to human rights violations and corruption in the Central African country of Gabon by challenging a recent PR trip by Argentine football star Lionel Messi.
Press Release Aug 7, 2015 HRF condemns assassination attempt against OFF speaker from Burundi The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns the assassination attempt against prominent human rights defender Pierre Claver Mbonimpa, and calls on the government of Burundi to thoroughly investigate, prosecute, and punish the perpetrator.
Press Release Jul 31, 2015 Celebration of Gabon’s Dictator On July 17, Argentine football superstar and children’s rights advocate Lionel Messi visited Gabon to endorse and celebrate Ali Bongo, a dictator who has ruled the African country after succeeding his father Omar Bongo in 2009.
Report Jul 22, 2015 The Case of Oswaldo Paya (English) Oswaldo Payá Sardiñas was a Cuban human rights and democracy advocate. Payá was one of the most important leaders of the Cuban opposition due to his influence founding and leading the Varela Project..
News Jul 22, 2015 Foreign Policy on HRF’s new legal report about the mysterious death of Payá Exactly three years ago, prominent Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá was traveling in a Hyundai sedan from Havana to Santiago de Cuba along with three other people when the car struck a patch of gravel and veered off the road, striking a tree and killing him and one other passenger.
