Human Rights Foundation (HRF)✓

HRF’s “Dare to Dissent” series has been nominated for three 2026 @anthemawards in the Human & Civil Rights category! Help us amplify the stories of prisoners of conscience and the struggle for justice under authoritarian regimes. Vote for HRF here:

This week, HRF’s AI Hack for Freedom III was featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” highlighting how 10 human rights defenders from around the world worked with developers and technologists to build AI-powered tools addressing real-world challenges facing their movements. As NPR’s Jenna McLaughlin reported, “with AI coding agents to speed up the process, teams are able to build things they can use in just two days.” The segment featured Zimbabwean pro-democracy activist Evan Mawarire and Rwandan human rights activist Carine Kanimba, whose team won the hackathon with Behind the Jersey, a platform exposing how authoritarian regimes use sports sponsorships to whitewash human rights abuses. Listen to the full story →

Learn more about the Tyranny Tracker →

Panelists include Esra Demir-Gürsel, research fellow at the Centre for Fundamental Rights; Gorazd Ordanoski, HRF research fellow and methodology advisor; Zara Rancheva, HRF research fellow for Europe and Central Asia; Charles Sutherland, HRF research fellow for SWANA; and Lisa Voigt, PhD candidate at the Hertie School.

Join us at 5:30 p.m. CET at the Henrik Enderlein Forum, Hertie School, Friedrichstraße 180, 10117 Berlin. Registration is required. RSVP today →

On Thursday, Oct. 29, HRF and the @hertieschool Centre for Fundamental Rights will present the Tyranny Tracker in Berlin. The event will examine the drivers of democratic backsliding and pathways to democratic renewal, with a focus on Europe in a global context.

Violeta Moreno-Lax, Wübben Foundation professor of international law and director of the Centre for Fundamental Rights, will deliver opening remarks, and HRF Legal and Policy Fellow Jasper Kamradt will moderate the discussion.

On Thursday, Oct. 29, HRF and @sflukandie will present the Tyranny Tracker at the University of Manchester in the UK. The event will showcase the Tyranny Tracker’s methodology and examine global trends in authoritarianism.

Join us at 5 p.m. at the University of Manchester in Room 5.205 in University Place, 176 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL.

Learn more about the Tyranny Tracker →

We are grateful to the Select Committee on China for drawing attention to our pro bono client, Gao Zhen. Gao has been arbitrarily detained since August 2024 for nothing more than his satirical art.

Prominent dissident artist Gao Zhen was detained by the CCP for his work. In addition, the CCP is now holding his seven-year old American son and wife under an exit ban and refusing to let them return to America. Watch to learn how the CCP uses arbitrary detention and exit bans to hold American families hostage and suppress freedom of expression.

Indian activist Umar Khalid has spent more than six years in prison since becoming a prominent voice in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law that excludes Muslims from eligibility for a fast-tracked path to Indian citizenship. In a prison diary published by @TheQuint Umar writes about the toll of years in detention without a trial: “How is it that I have spent most of my thirties in captivity? I wonder if this continuing injustice makes a difference to anyone? Does it move even a feather in our hallowed chambers of justice? … Unable to sleep, I pick up a pencil and start scribbling on the walls of my cell. Tonight, I wrote these lines from one of my favourite songs by Coldplay. ‘Nobody said it was easy — no one said it would be this hard.’” HRF calls on the Indian government to immediately end Umar’s arbitrary detention. Learn more → ​​#DispatchesfromDetention #UmarKhalid; #UmarKhalid6YearsOfInjustice

Across three cities, HRF landed in Spain last week to present the Tyranny Tracker, connecting students, academics, and pro-democracy advocates in Oviedo, Bilbao, and Sevilla.

We were joined by leaders and experts — including pro-democracy leader @leopoldolopez, Senator Íñigo Fernández García, former Venezuelan political prisoner @jesusarmasccs, and Nicaraguan dissident Luis Alberto Montoya, alongside HRF’s @JavierElHage, Mariana Atala, Luciana Fortuna, and Nolwenn C. Mahé — bridging rigorous academic analysis and frontline advocacy.

Thank you to all who joined us across Spain. Understanding how tyranny operates is essential to stopping it. Explore the Tyranny Tracker:

How can technology empower women and girls living under one of the world’s most repressive regimes? @RoyaMahboob, Afghanistan’s first female tech CEO and founder of the “Afghan Dreamers” All-Girls Robotics Team, shares how technology continues to empower women and girls and give them hope for a better future, even in a country that is known as “the worst place in the world for women.” In this episode of The Dissident’s Mic, Roya shares how technology and education can create opportunities for Afghan girls to pursue their dreams and ambitions, despite the restrictions they face under Taliban rule. Listen to the full episode →

RT @OsloFF: In June, María Corina Machado finally made it in person to the 2026 #OsloFreedomForum after years of attending virtually. On stage, she shared her hopes for Venezuela and her plan to return and build a democratic future hand in hand with its people. Machado faced repeated obstacles in her attempts to return home. This September, she was denied entry into Venezuela three times in just 24 hours. Less than six months after her talk in Oslo, and after 10 months in exile, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has returned to Venezuela. Revisit her full talk on the future she envisions for Venezuela →

Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire (@VictoireUmuhoza) spent nearly eight years behind bars after returning from exile to run for president. Though pardoned by President Paul Kagame in 2018, she was once again arrested in 2025 and detained on “conspiring to incite public disorder,” “undermining the authority of the government,” and other charges. In a letter from prison, Victoire writes, “The days are lonely and can sometimes feel hopeless in prison, but there are occasional bright spots. Earlier this year, my son spoke about my imprisonment at the Oslo Freedom Forum and I heard that posters with my photo had been placed at bus stops throughout the city. It makes me proud to think of my children, standing up for freedom and justice … I hope they understand why I feel called to do this work, even though it keeps us apart.” Victoire now faces a trial in which the prosecutor seeks a life sentence. HRF calls on the Rwandan regime to release Victoire and end its relentless persecution of opposition figures and government critics, both inside and outside the country. As Victoire writes, “I believe in a better future for Rwanda, but it cannot be built while independent voices are silenced.” Learn more → ​​#DispatchesfromDetention #VictoireIngabire