Human Rights Foundation (HRF)

If you're at @sxsw 2026, come visit HRF's ESC Tyranny booth to learn how vibe coding is changing activism! People can now build tools for resistance as quickly as authoritarian regimes build systems of control. Vibe coding is making that possible. It turns ideas into infrastructure: describe the tool, and AI rapidly brings it to life.

4/ Learn more about Joey Siu’s journey and her ongoing struggle for freedom in Hong Kong: youtube.com/watch?v=hBsuEP…

3/ Despite digital surveillance, online attacks, and arbitrary charges, Joey Siu and fellow women activists keep speaking up for what they believe.

1/ In honor of Women’s History Month, HRF amplifies the voices of courageous women human rights defenders who advocate for justice and democracy. HRF stands in solidarity with women human rights defenders everywhere. #WomensMonth #IWD2026 #Women4Democracy

In honor of Women’s History Month, HRF amplifies the voices of courageous women human rights defenders who advocate for justice and democracy. HRF stands in solidarity with women human rights defenders everywhere. #WomensMonth #IWD2026 #Women4Democracy

HRF calls on the international community to hold India accountable and demand Khalid’s immediate release. #FreeUmarKhalid Read more: hrf.org/latest/hrf-suc…

Khalid was arrested after becoming a prominent voice in protests against India’s discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act. The WGAD found that his detention stemmed from the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and association. The Working Group further observed that Khalid’s prolonged pretrial detention and repeated denial of bail violated his right to be presumed innocent.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has ruled that India’s detention of activist Umar Khalid is arbitrary and violates international human rights law.

Visit ESC Tyranny at SXSW: Fairmont Austin | 101 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78701 | Manchester Ballroom | 5th Floor

What once took years can now begin in a matter of days. At ESC Tyranny, you’ll see how dissidents around the world are already using AI to accelerate their work, and how developers are building powerful, freedom-enhancing tools faster than ever before. You’ll also have the chance to try it yourself. The same technology that can be used to control can also be used to resist. It all depends on who gets to build.

If you're at @sxsw 2026, come visit HRF's ESC Tyranny booth to learn how vibe coding is changing activism! People can now build tools for resistance as quickly as authoritarian regimes build systems of control. Vibe coding is making that possible. It turns ideas into infrastructure: describe the tool, and AI rapidly brings it to life.

HRF condemns China's retaliation against the lawyers representing 18 pastors who have been detained on bogus charges of "illegally using information networks." The pastors were detained in October 2025 and are still awaiting trial. Their lawyers should be able to represent them without harassment. HRF stands with Grace and other family members who are advocating for the release of their loved ones.

While Solomon’s freedom is a rare victory, dozens of prisoners of conscience in Eritrea remain in secret detention, some of whom have been held for more than two decades. They include Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak, the world’s longest-held journalist. bbc.com/news/articles/…

Known by his pen name Cobra, Biniam gained popularity for satirical cartoons tackling political and social issues. His work appeared in Eritrea's private press in the period between 1993, when the country gained independence, and 2001, when the regime banned private media. bbc.com/news/articles/…

HRF welcomes the release of renowned Eritrean cartoonist Biniam Solomon after 15 years of enforced disappearance in the country's network of secret prisons.

Since the NBA got into business with Rwanda’s warmongering dictator Paul Kagame, the US government has increasingly sanctioned the regime for its role in fueling a bloody war and atrocities against civilians in eastern DRC — human suffering on a scale that trounces the NBA’s corporate messaging about the power of basketball for positive change. espn.com/nba/story/_/id…

APR BBC was scheduled to represent Rwanda in the 2026 BAL, but on Thursday, the Rwandan Basketball Federation abruptly announced the club’s “decision to step aside” for another team. This came only days after the club announced with great fanfare that two-time NBA champion Quinn Cook would join its roster. espn.com/nba/story/_/id…

“It’s Take Off Time” for Season 6 of the @NBA’s Basketball Africa League (BAL) #theBAL, with Rwanda hosting the finals in May. Have American sanctions on Rwandan state entities forced the home team — the club of the Rwandan military — to bow out? The NBA’s profit-first approach seems to have hit a wall with US government policy.