Blog Post Dec 14, 2023 The 2023 Dictators’ Playbook: Sending Military Support Today, a staggering 5.7 billion people — 72% of the global population — live under the tyranny of an authoritarian regime. As they rise in numbers and strength, autocrats maintain a domestic and international hold with an all-too-similar playbook.
Blog Post Dec 14, 2023 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #3 This week’s Financial Freedom report covers everything from extreme inflation under regimes in Zimbabwe and Iran to a newly exposed vulnerability allowing tyrants to track mobile phone usage of their citizens to Bitcoin software updates putting more power in the hands of users worldwide.
Blog Post Nov 30, 2023 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #2 From Singapore pioneering the use of central bank digital currencies to staggering currency debasement in Cuba and Egypt, it is evident that governments worldwide continue to abuse their digital power.
Blog Post Nov 22, 2023 HRF’s Weekly Financial Freedom Report #1 In this newsletter, HRF will provide useful stories and information to help us better understand the global impact of growing worldwide Bitcoin adoption.
Blog Post Nov 17, 2023 Worldconned: How China Co-Opted Sci-Fi’s Crown Jewel Amidst the Uyghur Genocide Last month, Chengdu, China hosted the 81st World Science Fiction Convention. Known as Worldcon, this annual convention is the site of the prestigious Hugo Awards—sci-fi’s equivalent to the Oscars.
Blog Post Oct 24, 2023 The Silent Chains of Saudi Arabia: My Fight for My Daughter and Our Freedom In 2011, while working in Tunisia, my life completely changed. I witnessed the start of the Arab Spring and fall of Tunisia’s dictator, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, due to a popular uprising against injustice.
Blog Post Sep 24, 2023 International Day of Education: An Afghan Woman’s Crime to Learn The right to education — to learn, to be curious, to explore the past and present freely — is critical to the development of individuals, civil societies, and nations as a whole. A robust and fair education system transforms societies for the better. In fact, education and democracy are considered highly correlated and intertwined.
Blog Post Aug 24, 2023 The Dictators Toolkit: Disguised Judicial Attacks Independent judges are a nightmare for would-be dictators. They have the immense power to overturn the abusive actions of creeping authoritarian regimes by acquitting dissidents of bogus charges, holding regime officials accountable, or upholding free and fair elections.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Show Trials and Political Persecution: Judiciary in Putin’s Russia From Tsarism to the modern era, Russian leaders have attempted to mold the nation’s judiciary for their own gain and employ it as a weapon against their political opponents. In today’s Russia, this is evident by laws that limit anti-government demonstrations and criminalize anti-war speech.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in Mali Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in the Central African Republic Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 11, 2023 Russia’s Influence in Sudan Squeezed by Western sanctions — first in response to its illegal annexation of Crimea and then its subsequent invasion of Ukraine — Vladimir Putin’s regime has increasingly turned to new partnerships across Africa for greater global influence and economic lifelines.
Blog Post Aug 9, 2023 Honoring the Voices of the 2020 Belarusian Protests Today marks three years since the Belarusian people overwhelmingly voted against Alexander Lukashenko’s authoritarian rule and in favor of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the main opposition candidate, only to have Lukashenko impose himself by way of fraud and crush the ensuing protests.
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 Jul 31, 2023 Threats Against Journalists in Asia: Online Trolling and Jailing of Reporters A free and independent press is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. It allows citizens to access information and hold their leaders accountable.
Blog Post Jul 31, 2023 Threats Against Journalists in Latin America: Harassment, Prison, and Forced Exile A free and independent press is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. It allows citizens to access information and hold their leaders accountable.
Blog Post Jul 30, 2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons: How Corruption Drives Modern Slavery Slavery was declared abolished in 1981 when Mauritania became the last country in the world to formally outlaw it, but 2023 numbers tell a different story: Today, on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, an estimated 27.6 million people are trapped in modern slavery and 22 million in forced marriages around the world. And the numbers are rising.
Blog Post Jul 28, 2023 Freedom in Focus: HRF Summer Newsletter In this edition of Freedom in Focus, we are excited to share our biggest wins and achievements over the last few months.
Blog Post Jul 19, 2023 HRF Brings UN Attention to Rights Abuses in Congo, Malaysia, and Senegal Last week, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) submitted contributions to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) regarding the Republic of the Congo, Malaysia, and Senegal.
Blog Post Jul 13, 2023 All Fabricated: Shein’s Influencer Trip to a Guangzhou Factory In June, the global fast-fashion retailer Shein treated a group of social media influencers to an all-expenses paid trip to Guangzhou, a city in southeast China. Glamorous at the onset, Shein took these “brand ambassadors” — individuals paid to endorse the company’s products — on tours of the company’s “aboveboard” factories. Soon after, the individuals shared raving reviews of the working conditions, suggesting no signs of maltreatment or forced labor.
