News & Updates

The latest from Freedom House:

Joint Letters

One hundred organisations call to end assault on freedom of speech, and to free all detained human rights defenders and netizens

May 21 2012 - 6:09pm

The following is a letter calling on the Bahrain Royal Family to release jailed human rights defenders and netizens, including the founder and president of IFEX member Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. The signing organisations further call on the UN Human Rights Council, the European Parliament, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and all concerned governments to exert their influence on the ruling family to stop violating human rights in Bahrain:

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa
Freedom Alert

Leading Belarusian Rights Defender Recognized

May 21 2012 - 5:09pm

Freedom House congratulates Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Belarusian human rights organization “Viasna,” for receiving the State Department’s prestigious Human Rights Defenders Award in recognition of his “exceptional valor and leadership” in promoting human rights and democracy.  Bialiatski shared the 2011 award with Uganda’s Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia
Statements

Azerbaijan: International freedom of expression coalition launches website ahead of Eurovision

May 21 2012 - 12:37pm

The International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan (the IPGA), coordinated by ARTICLE 19, has launched its website www.AzerbaijanFreeXpression.org and Facebook and Twitter profiles ahead of this week’s Eurovision Song Competition, which will commence in Baku, Azerbaijan  tomorrow, May 22.  Looking behind the glitz of Eurovision, the IPGA website examines the alarming freedom of expression situation in Azerbaijan, where journalists and others face blackmail, intimidation, violence, and imprisonment for expressing critical views.

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression
Regions: 
Central and Eastern Europe/Eurasia
Freedom Alert

Freedom House Welcomes Chinese Decision to Release Activist Chen

May 21 2012 - 12:33pm

Freedom House welcomes the Chinese government’s decision to allow blind Chinese activist and self-taught lawyer Chen Guangcheng to travel with his wife and two children to the United States, where he will study law and English through a New York University fellowship. Freedom House calls on the Chinese authorities to cease their harassment of Chen’s family members who remain in China, and release those being held in detention.

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense, Rule of Law
Regions: 
Asia-Pacific