Press Release May 30, 2026 Open to Debate and the Human Rights Foundation Debate the Ethics of Cooperating with China On June 1, veteran debate forum Open to Debate returns to the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway for their second debate in partnership with the Human Rights Foundation.
Publication May 27, 2026 Free Up Activist Held in Dungeon, UN Group Tells Equatorial Guinea Recently, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention published its opinion, and the message is clear.
Human Rights Dispatch May 26, 2026 Public Order Crisis Shakes Bolivia, Narendra Modi Ignores Journalist, Abdullah Ibhais Silenced Illegally On May 10, 2026, Jordanian authorities at Queen Alia International Airport detained Abdullah Ibhais for nearly three hours upon his return from speaking at Nordic Media Days in Bergen, Norway.
Press Release May 26, 2026 HRF Urges Jordan to Uphold Human Rights Obligations and Facilitate Travel for Whistleblower Abdullah Ibhais The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) calls on the Kingdom of Jordan to honor its international human rights obligations by ensuring that Abdullah Ibhais, a media strategy expert and Qatar FIFA World Cup whistleblower, can freely travel to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum from June 1 to 3, 2026.
Op-Ed May 23, 2026 Thirty Years Late, Justice Comes Knocking on Raúl Castro’s Door The indictment of the elderly Cuban tyrant has been taken as a move in a bigger geopolitical game. But the underlying crime deserves to be remembered.
External Source May 23, 2026 Caitlin Triplett: “No sabemos nada de Anacleto desde marzo de 2024” En la edición 221 de Cuarto de Hora, Jorge Elías entrevista a la Asociada Jurídica Internacional de Human Rights Foundation que lideró la denuncia sobre la detención del activista Anacleto Micha Ndong en Guinea Ecuatorial presentada ante el Grupo de Trabajo de la ONU sobre la Detención Arbitraria (WGAD).
Human Rights Dispatch May 21, 2026 Kenya Suppresses Nationwide Protests, Prison Death Shatters Family, Hague Welcomes Venezuelan Dictator, North Korea Builds Border Artillery, and more. HRF condemns the continued detention of Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen and the exit ban imposed on his wife, Zhao Yaliang, which has prevented their family, including their 7-year-old son, from returning home to the United States.
Press Release May 19, 2026 HRF submits a petition to the United Nations on behalf of Pastor Jin, Pastor Gao, and Pastor Wang in China NEW YORK (May 20, 2026) — Today, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted an individual complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Pastors Jin “Ezra” Mingri (金明日), Gao Yingjia (高颖佳), and Wang Lin (王林), who are all currently detained in China for exercising their freedom of religion.
Blog Post May 15, 2026 Delcy Rodríguez’s Trip to the Hague Took Her to the Wrong Court Delcy Rodríguez, the de facto dictator of Venezuela, is in The Hague this week, though not at the International Criminal Court (ICC) where a senior official of her regime belongs.
Human Rights Dispatch May 15, 2026 Guinea-Bissau Opposition Leader Detained, Militia Atrocities Devastate Congo, Uzbek Court Extends Sentence HRF condemns the campaign of mass atrocities perpetrated by an Islamic State-affiliated militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). HRF deplores the failure of the DRC regime and the international community to protect the millions of people caught between armed groups and Congolese armed forces, even as a UN Fact-Finding Mission found all sides to be responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Publication May 15, 2026 Trump says Xi is considering a detained pastor’s case, but freeing activist Jimmy Lai is ‘tough’ HONG KONG (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday he raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping of releasing a prominent detained pastor and imprisoned Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, and quoted Xi as saying he’d consider the pastor but that Lai’s case is a “tough one.”
Human Rights Dispatch May 14, 2026 Mozambican Opposition Leader Assassinated, Central African Challenger Banned, Activists Demand China Action, and more. HRF welcomes the bipartisan @CECCgov letter respectfully urging @POTUS to raise the cases of political prisoners directly with China’s Xi Jinping and confront the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s transnational repression.
Publication May 14, 2026 Trump pledges to raise detained pastor’s case with Xi Jinping during Beijing visit as family pleads for help Five weeks before the birth of her third child, Grace Drexel sat in Washington speaking about her father, the grandfather her children barely know, and the hope that President Donald Trump might help bring him home.
Publication May 13, 2026 A 7-Year-Old American Boy Is Trapped in China Because His Father Made Art On May 10, 2026, Chinese artist Gao Zhen turned 70 years old. He spent his birthday in a Chinese prison.
Report May 12, 2026 Dictators and Diplomas: Why Foreign Autocracies Funding American Universities Threatens Democracy, Destroys Academic Freedom, and Entrenches Anti-Democratic Regimes For years, foreign dictatorships and their proxies have searched out any number of ways to influence policy and discourse in the United States. From hiring fleets of lobbyists to setting up dark money networks, from bankrolling sports leagues to launching disinformation campaigns on American social media platforms, from backing strategic investments to hiring consulting firms and white-shoe law firms, the list of targets is lengthy.
Human Rights Dispatch May 11, 2026 Authoritarians Target Lawyers Worldwide, Suspicious Death of Rwandan Dissident Aimable Karasira, El Salvador Freezes El Faro Assets, and more. The detained individuals listed in US Senate Resolution 677 and House Resolution 1259 aren’t just names on paper — they are real people with families, lives, and loved ones.
Press Release May 10, 2026 Wife of Chinese Dissident Artist Gao Zhen Wishes Husband Happy 70th Birthday Today, May 10, 2026, is Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen’s 70th birthday, and he is spending it in a Chinese prison.
Press Release May 10, 2026 HRF Continues to Condemn the Detention of Gao Zhen on his 70th Birthday Today, May 10, 2026, is Gao Zhen’s 70th birthday, and he is spending it in a Chinese prison.
Publication May 8, 2026 The UN Demands the Immediate Release of Anacleto Micha Ndong The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) issued an official opinion declaring that the detention of the Equatorial Guinean lawyer and activist – one of the recipients of the 2026 Graciela Fernández Meijide Human Rights Award – is arbitrary and violates international law.
Human Rights Dispatch May 7, 2026 Drones Strike Khartoum Airport, Cubans Demand Political Change HRF calls on all democracies to support the Cuban people’s right to self-determination. A recent poll by @eltoquecom is the latest expression of the desire for change from a people muzzled by unlawful repression and intimidation from a regime that must be called out for its systematic rights violations.
