News Mar 18, 2016 Garry Kasparov in Newsweek Historical comparisons involving Russian leader Vladimir Putin are usually directed toward the distant past.
Press Release Mar 16, 2016 HRF to UN: Inquire into Death Threats Against Rosa María Payá in Cuba The appeal requested that the rapporteur call on the Cuban government to provide an official and comprehensive explanation regarding the state’s treatment of Rosa María Payá.
Press Release Feb 24, 2016 HRF to UN: Inquire into Suspicious Death of Oswaldo Payá in Cuba In a meeting with staff members from the U.N. Special Rapporteur’s office, HRF presented the conclusions of its July 2015 legal report, which strongly suggests that Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá’s 2012 death was an extrajudicial execution carried out by the Cuban government.
Press Release Feb 10, 2016 HRF Supports the First US Exhibit of Cuban Artist El Sexto El Sexto, a Cuban graffiti artist and activist, will showcase his work in an exhibition entitled “PORK,” which will take place at Market Gallery in South Beach, Miami, from February 26 to March 16.
Press Release Jan 29, 2016 Ecuador: HRF Condemns Cyber-Attacks Against Free Press Watchdog These attacks began just days after the nonprofit launched Censuracom.ec, a website designed to expose the government’s crackdown on independent media during 2015.
Press Release Jan 21, 2016 Venezuela: HRF Condemns Inhuman Treatment of Leopoldo López’s Wife and Mother Both women were told to undress in separate rooms — in the case of Mendoza, she was forced to do so in front of her two grandchildren, ages three and six — and were verbally abused in an attempt to punish and humiliate them.
News Jan 21, 2016 DW quotes HRF on El Sexto’s release from Cuban prison Maldonado, considerado preso de conciencia por Amnistía Internacional, explicó que se encuentra “bien de salud, contento y animado”, en una llamada de teléfono desde su domicilio familiar en La Habana.
Press Release Jan 6, 2016 HRF to OAS Secretary-General: Apply the Democracy Clause in Venezuela HRF calls on Almagro to summon an extraordinary session of the Permanent Council of the OAS in order to analyze the situation in Venezuela and call for a peaceful return to democratic rule in that country.
Blog Post Dec 17, 2015 Nicki Minaj Shouldn’t Be Performing for Dictators HRF president Thor Halvorssen and HRF International Council member George Ayittey in Slate on Nicki Minaj’s upcoming performance for Angolan dictator José Eduardo dos Santos.
Press Release Oct 30, 2015 HRF to Cuba: End Harassment and Legal Persecution Against El Sexto In December, Maldonado was arbitrarily arrested and accused of criminal defamation for “insulting” the leaders of the Cuban revolution.
Press Release Oct 29, 2015 HRF Deplores Election of Dictatorships to Top UN Human Rights Body The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) deplores yesterday’s U.N. General Assembly vote electing the authoritarian regimes of Burundi, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Togo, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela as members of the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for a three-year term.
Press Release Oct 20, 2015 HRF, Lantos Foundation, UN Watch to Host Event Opposing Election of Authoritarians In anticipation of the upcoming elections of the 2016-2018 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), the Lantos Foundation, and UN Watch will host a luncheon at the United Nations at 12:00pm on Tuesday, October 27, in opposition to bids from a collection of authoritarian states to sit on the council.
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.
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 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 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.