Press Release Mar 30, 2017 Coup in Venezuela: Maduro Regime Shuts Down Legislative Power Today, Venezuela’s Supreme Court has effectively shut down the democratically-elected (and opposition-controlled) National Assembly.
Press Release Mar 30, 2017 Open Letter on Cuba Censorship at the Havana Film Festival New York The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) writes to express profound disappointment about the censoring of the film Santa and Andrés from competition at the 18th Havana Film Festival of New York (HFFNY). HRF calls on you and the HFFNY to reconsider this decision and allow Santa and Andrés to compete at the festival.
News Mar 28, 2017 Bloomberg quotes HRF on corruption in Latin America In Latin America, crooked business goes by many names. Coima, propina, the bite and — my favorite — “milk for the kids” are just a few. However you call corruption, people in 13 countries in the Americas agreed that it is one of the region’s biggest scourges, according to pollster Latinobarometro.
Blog Post Mar 17, 2017 HRF to OAS Members: Do Your Job, Apply Democracy Clause in Venezuela Almagro’s 75-page report further urged Venezuela to hold general elections that satisfy all international electoral observation standards without delay, to immediately release all political prisoners, and to return to the constitutional order with full respect for the separation of powers.
Press Release Mar 14, 2017 Cuba: Female Activists Beaten, Stripped Naked By State Agents Benítez, a member of the pro-democracy network Red de Facilitadores Electorales (REDFE), was scheduled to conduct a workshop at her home in Santiago de Cuba to train prospective independent candidates for upcoming municipal elections.
News Mar 13, 2017 CNN en Marcha interviews Rosa María Payá Rosa María attended SXSW to join HRF’s panel, “The Real Information Revolution,” with other activists who use technology to promote freedom in closed societies.
News Feb 22, 2017 In El País, HRF profiles OAS leader Luis Almagro Al anunciar que viajaría a La Habana a recibir un premio de manos de disidentes que piden democracia en Cuba, el secretario general de la OEA, Luis Almagro, ha forzado al régimen de Raúl Castro a prohibirle el ingreso con argumentos “bastante ridículos”.
Press Release Feb 18, 2017 HRF to Testify Before U.S. Senate Kasparov will offer his expert testimony at 2:45 p.m. It will be broadcast live on the U.S. Senate website.
News Feb 17, 2017 In El Nacional, HRF urges OAS to defend Venezuelan democracy “Queremos reconocer su claridad y firmeza frente a los embates antidemocráticos del régimen del presidente venezolano, Nicolás Maduro”, señalaron en la misiva el presidente de HRF, el venezolano Thor Halvorssen, y su secretario general, Garry Kasparov
News Jan 21, 2017 Václav Award Winner “El Sexto” in DW Danilo Maldonado “El Sexto” fue encarcelado sin juicio el pasado 26 de noviembre por haber escrito “Se fue” en varios edificios de La Habana tras la muerte de Fidel Castro.
Press Release Jan 21, 2017 Cuba: Graffiti Artist Imprisoned for Anti-Castro Protest Released HRF calls once again on Cuba’s dictatorial government to drop all criminal charges against him and provide guarantees that it will cease harassing and detaining him arbitrarily for exercising his right to freedom of expression.
News Jan 13, 2017 Thor Halvorssen in Verdens Gang on Venezuelan democracy Venezuela kan ikke lenger regnes som en stat med en regjering, institusjoner og et sivilt samfunn.
Press Release Dec 19, 2016 El Sexto’s Lawyer Expelled from Cuba After False Detention & Interrogation Motley was in Cuba for three days as the international attorney for political prisoner Danilo “El Sexto” Maldonado, a celebrated Cuban artist imprisoned since Castro’s death more than twenty-one days ago.
Press Release Dec 16, 2016 HRF to UN: Inquire into Arbitrary Detentions in Cuba; “El Sexto” should be released The prominent Cuban artist and activist was beaten and taken from his home in Havana on November 26, the day after Fidel Castro’s passing.
Press Release Dec 16, 2016 HRF to Cuba: Allow El Sexto to Meet With His International Lawyer Yesterday, Motley tried to visit Maldonado at his last known detention site, Havana’s El Combinado del Este maximum security prison. Motley was barred from seeing Maldonado, and was denied access to basic information regarding official charges.
Press Release Dec 16, 2016 Kimberley Motley, El Sexto’s Lawyer, Arrested in Cuba, and Taken to Unknown Location A recent journalistic investigation revealed that a group of intelligence agents from the Strategic Center for the Security and Protection of the Homeland (CESPPA), acting under direct instructions from President Nicolás Maduro, has unlawfully wiretapped phone conversations, and hacked text messages and email communications of prominent opposition figures such as Henrique Capriles, María Corina Machado, Henry Ramos Allup, and Julio Borges.
Press Release Dec 15, 2016 HRF to UN: “El Sexto” Should be Released This Monday, Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted an individual complaint to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), requesting that they initiate proceedings to investigate the arbitrary arrest and ongoing detention of Danilo Maldonado Machado, also known as El Sexto.
Press Release Dec 12, 2016 Canada, U.S., Estonia: HRF Supports Legislation to Reject Dictatorship Enablers The Magnitsky Law, if adopted, will allow Canada to sanction foreign officials who commit gross human rights abuses abroad by restricting their entry into the country and freezing their assets.
News Nov 2, 2016 Javier El-Hage writes in El País about the “coup” in Venezuela El presidente de Venezuela viene acusando a la oposición de planear un golpe de Estado en su contra “como los que fueron perpetrados contra Zelaya en Honduras, Lugo en Paraguay, y Roussef en Brasil”.
Press Release Oct 24, 2016 HRF Urges Democratic Countries not to Elect Dictatorships to UN Human Rights Council Governments seeking election to the U.N.’s top human rights body this year include China, Cuba, Egypt, Iraq, Malaysia, Russia, Rwanda, and Saudi Arabia.