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 Dec 9, 2024 Assad regime overthrown after 53 years of repression and brutality; pivotal opportunity to establish rule of law and individual rights On Sunday, the Assad regime in Syria shattered after militants captured Damascus, causing Bashar Al-Assad and his family to reportedly flee to Moscow, Russia.
Report Aug 30, 2023 New Arabic Edition of “Framing Justice in Syria” Today, on the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) and The Syria Campaign (TSC) published the Arabic edition of the report, “Framing Justice in Syria: The Road Toward Comprehensive Justice,” which provides a comprehensive overview of domestic and international judicial avenues to prosecute the crimes against humanity that have been committed in Syria.
Blog Post Aug 4, 2023 How Authoritarianism Fuels the Middle East’s Captagon Problem Captagon, commonly known as the “poor man’s cocaine,” has recently re-emerged as a popular recreational drug and is rapidly spreading throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
Blog Post Feb 15, 2023 Crises Compounded in a Forgotten Dictatorship The combination of a 12-year conflict caused by a dictator who glorifies and celebrates his atrocities, a global pandemic, and now a natural disaster would surely have the world concerned and anxious to help. But, this has not been the case.
Press Release Aug 18, 2022 HRF Condemns the Exploitation of War-Torn Syria for Film The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) denounces the use of war-torn Syrian cities as locations for films sponsored by the Assad regime and its authoritarian allies.
Announcement Jul 29, 2022 HRF Speaks at the Commonwealth Club Last week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) was invited to speak at the Commonwealth Club in a panel discussion entitled “The Human Rights Foundation and Justice in Syria.”
Report Apr 1, 2022 Framing Justice in Syria: The Road Toward Comprehensive Justice Only by listening to the demands of Syrians and standing with those who want a peaceful and democratic future for the country will stability come to Syria.
Report Apr 1, 2022 Arabic Edition of “Framing Justice in Syria” Only by listening to the demands of Syrians and standing with those who want a peaceful and democratic future for the country will stability come to Syria.
Press Release Feb 3, 2021 HRF to Biden Administration: Focus on Worst Human Rights Offenders NEW YORK (February 3, 2021) – Following the inauguration of President Joseph Biden in the United States on January 20, 2021
Press Release Dec 23, 2020 In memory of Raed Fares, 1972-2018 Today, we honor Raed Fares, a brave Syrian activist and member of the Human Rights Foundation family who lost his life two years ago today.
Press Release Apr 10, 2018 Syria: Assad Gasses Innocent Civilians, Again NEW YORK (April 10, 2018) — The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) condemns Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons against the civilian population of the last rebel-held city, Douma,…
Media Apr 9, 2018 UN Security Council to meet over chemical attack in Syria (CBS News) – The U.N. Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting Monday on Syria following a deadly apparent chemical weapons attack on Saturday. Rival meetings were originally…
Publication Mar 27, 2018 Thousands more leave Syria’s Ghouta as Assad takes back control (Reuters) – The last remaining insurgent-held area in Ghouta is the town of Douma. The United Nations said it is highly concerned for 70,000-78,000 people it said were trapped inside….
Media Mar 12, 2018 ‘Unsafe even to bury the dead’ in besieged Syrian enclave (Reuters) – Thousands of families are sleeping in the open in the streets of the biggest town of Syria’s rebel-held eastern Ghouta enclave, where there is no longer any room…
Publication Mar 5, 2018 UN begins aid distribution in Syria’s Ghouta area amid shelling (The Washington Post) – A United Nations convoy carrying lifesaving assistance entered the besieged Syrian enclave of Eastern Ghouta on Monday, reaching civilians for the first time in weeks amid…
Media Feb 27, 2018 U.N. Links North Korea to Syria’s Chemical Weapon Program (The New York Times)– North Korea has been shipping supplies to the Syrian government that could be used in the production of chemical weapons, United Nations experts contend. The evidence…
Publication Feb 26, 2018 Chlorine gas symptoms reported in eastern Ghouta, Syria (NBC News) – In recent weeks, the United States has accused Syria of repeatedly using chlorine gas as a weapon. Rebel-held areas of the Ghouta region were hit in a…
Publication Feb 21, 2018 UN demands halt of ‘monstrous campaign’ in Syrian town (Al Jazeera) – Top UN officials demanded an immediate cessation of aerial attacks on Syria’s devastated Eastern Ghouta with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling the rebel-held enclave “hell on Earth”. Syrian…
Publication Feb 6, 2018 Air strikes pound Syria’s last rebel strongholds, gas chokes civilians (Reuters) – Warplanes launched heavy attacks on the two last major rebel-held areas in Syria, killing at least 29 people in the Ghouta suburb near the capital and choking people…
