2012 at HRF: A Year of Hard Impact

2012 has been a landmark year for the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). Inspired by our new chairman, Russian democracy advocate Garry Kasparov, we have increased our impact by launching a variety of successful new global initiatives and events.

We would like to take this opportunity to highlight our achievements from the past year, and more importantly, thank you. We would not be able to do what we do without your support.

Rather than summarize with a handful of bullet points we decided to give you a narrative of the year’s highlights. It is several pages long but given your potential investment in our activities—and the scope and impact we have had in 2012—I invite you to take a moment and read the email.

Of course, if you do not wish to wait before making a contribution to HRF’s work, don’t let me stop you. Just click here. Given that freedom remains under threat across most of the world, your end of year gift is more vital than ever.

Uniting innovators and dissidents at the Oslo Freedom Forum

This past May, we celebrated the fourth annual Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF), uniting leaders from academia, advocacy, art, business, media, policy, and technology to address the world’s most challenging humanitarian issues. OFF is alternately described as a “Davos for revolutionaries” by The Guardian, “an ever-more important gathering for those who defy tyranny” by The Economist, and a “Davos for do-gooding dissidents” by The Daily Beast. It aims to: inspire action through the exchange of ideas; cultivate a vibrant, international community in support of freedom; spotlight the work of activists and innovators; establish a human rights axis for journalists; connect participants with allies and supporters; raise human rights to the top of the global agenda; and create a publicly accessible archive of powerful human rights testimonies. More than 120 talks from 70 countries can be found at www.oslofreedomforum.com, where they have been viewed more than 1,000,000 times.

As Wired observed: “Over intensely moving sessions at Oslo's Christiania Theatre and the nearby Grand Hotel, and afterwards over dinner, drinks and late-night conversation, stories are shared, campaigns sharpened and new alliances forged. The power of the event—whose sponsors include Sergey Brin's and Peter Thiel's charitable foundations—lies in the seamless mix of grassroots activists, many of whom have risked their lives to speak out, and the top-level policymakers and influencers who can act on what they learn. You might run into Hollywood glamour in Julia Ormond, or world-class philanthropists such as Omidyar Network's Pam Omidyar—but the real stars were the former political prisoners, child slaves, torture victims and tribal-rights campaigners who had in many cases taken big risks in order to travel to Norway. And each one I spoke to made me understand just how vital the role of the western media can be in articulating their stories and, in an oft-heard phrase, speaking truth to power.”

OFF’s ability to bring attention to individuals is perfectly represented by Manal al-Sharif, a young Saudi Arabian mother who came to Oslo to explain why she had “committed a crime” last spring by breaking the Saudi ban on women driving. A profile of her historic Oslo talk—which provided a glimpse into the Saudi dictatorship's medieval treatment of women—was featured as the main story on CNN’s webpage. Subsequently named one of Newsweek's top 10 world revolutionaries, al-Sharif’s presentation has created a national debate in Saudi Arabia on the human rights of women. Other examples of speakers whom OFF has impacted include: Liberia’s Leymah Gbowee, who received the Nobel Peace Prize five months after speaking at OFF; China’s Yang Jianli and Cuba’s Yoani Sánchez, who each received the CEPOS Freedom Prize (and an accompanying $50,000 award) after speaking; and Uganda’s Kasha Jacqueline, who went from being virtually unknown to receiving the prestigious Martin Ennals Award one year after speaking.

Given that freedom remains under threat across most of the world, your end of year gift is more vital than ever. We hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Creating the San Francisco Freedom Forum

The San Francisco Freedom Forum (SFFF), held on September 28, brought together a global community of innovators and activists to exchange ideas on how best to protect and promote human rights.

The Atlantic called the event “a unique convergence of pro-freedom voices,” GlobalPost said it was an “extraordinary and important gathering,” and The Daily Beast described it as a place where keynote speaker Daw Aung San Suu Kyi “crossed paths with fellow activists from Saudi Arabia to Uganda,” meeting her peers and together giving “testimonies of their work reaching for a democratic ideal.” The Mercury News said that
 the mix of tech leaders, philanthropists, and media and policy influentials in attendance gave a “truly Bay Area welcome” to Daw Suu and her fellow human rights defenders. In her address, Daw Suu shared her experiences on the road to freedom in Burma, outlined a philosophy of non-violence, and paid tribute to HRF’s former chairman, the late Czech leader and playwright Václav Havel.

Establishing the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent

Recognizing those who, with bravery and ingenuity, unmask the lie of dictatorship by living in truth, HRF awarded the first Havel Prize this May to Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and Saudi women’s rights advocate Manal al-Sharif.

Hailed as “a glimmer of inspiration” in a Wall Street Journal editorial, the Havel Prize was created by HRF with the enthusiastic endorsement of Dagmar Havlová, Havel’s widow, and was funded jointly by grants from the Brin Wojcicki Foundation, the Thiel Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation.

China: standing up for Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo remains the only imprisoned Nobel laureate. This year, HRF joined the International Committee for Liu Xiaobo. Consisting of intellectuals, artists, China experts, and human rights activists—including six Nobel Laureates—the International Committee’s goal is to inform, defend, and advocate for the release of Liu and his wife. In February, HRF reviewed his collection of essays—No Enemies, No Hatred—for Forbes. Just a few days ago, the Committee sent a letter signed by 134 Nobel Laureates from all disciplines to the Chinese authorities, demanding Liu’s release. More than 385,000 have added their signature—you can add yours here.

Cuba: supporting civil society

Since its creation, HRF has been dedicated to helping foster freedom and democracy in Cuba. While assisting Cuban civil society, HRF is also removing the world’s blinkers with regard to their totalitarian government. There are still, unfortunately, many who idolize the country’s cruel regime, including Urban Outfitters, which sells a line of products emblazoned with romantic images of Che Guevara. This fall HRF wrote an open letter to the company’s CEO, reminding him of Guevara’s murderous history and asking him to reconsider whether Urban Outfitters truly wanted to sell such products. Several days later, the products in question were taken off their website.

Given that freedom remains under threat across most of the world, your end of year gift is more vital than ever. We hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Ecuador: exposing growing autocracy

Rafael Correa’s regime has, for several years, been a major focus of HRF. After successfully campaigning for the release of a high-profile Ecuadorean political prisoner, Correa took to the country’s national airwaves to attack HRF. Lately, he has grown even bolder in his consolidation of power and crackdown on dissent. In July 2011, Correa’s government sentenced journalist Emilio Palacio and three executives of El Universo newspaper (Ecuador’s largest) to three years in prison and ordered them to pay US $40 million in damages for “defaming the president.” The crime: Palacio wrote calling Correa a tyrant and El Universo published it.

HRF sent a public letter to Ecuador’s National Court, demonstrating how the actions of the state in convicting Palacio and the executives of El Universo violated the constitution of Ecuador and international human rights law. News outlets and media watchdogs across Latin America picked up on HRF’s letter and used it to highlight the case. In January 2012, after Ecuador’s highest court upheld a prison sentence and massive fine against Palacio, CNN invited HRF on air to discuss Correa’s crackdown on dissent. In May, HRF arranged for Nicolás Pérez, one of the executives targeted in the Palacio lawsuit, to present at OFF. He stunned the international audience with clandestine video footage of judges in Ecuador taking bribes from Correa’s government.

Equatorial Guinea: challenging a dictatorship and its US-based helpers

Teodoro Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea with an iron fist since 1979. HRF learned that the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation—founded in the civil rights icon’s name by his daughter Hope Masters and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young—had been doing PR for the Obiang regime in exchange for funding. The Sullivan Foundation had given Obiang a prize and planned to hold its next “Sullivan Summit” in the Equatoguinean capital. In July, HRF sent a public letter to the Sullivan Foundation, asking it to cancel the summit. The letter sparked media coverage of the scandal in U.S. News & World Report, Reuters, and The Independent.

As a result, honorary chairman Bill Clinton’s name was scrubbed from the Foundation’s website, high-profile conference attendees declined to participate, and the keynote speaker cancelled his appearance. The Sullivan Foundation dug its heels in, and its CEO publicly defended the conference and the Obiang regime. The Associated Press, BBC, Foreign Policy, The National Review, The Washington Times, Aftenposten, Global Voices, and The Guardian picked up the story, and HRF published a corresponding op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, titled “A Human Rights Toast for an African Tyrant”. Under the increasing pressure, Andrew Young sent a letter to HRF, saying he was no longer chairman of the Sullivan Foundation, disavowing himself from the conference in Equatorial Guinea.

The actions of Andrew Young, who has served as a Washington lobbyist to several African dictatorships through his firm Goodworks International, are now under a journalistic microscope. With HRF’s help, the Sullivan Foundation is now being held accountable for renting Leon H. Sullivan’s name and reputation out to a rapacious tyrant.

HRF has also highlighted the prevalence of arbitrary detention in Equatorial Guinea. In October, the government arrested the nation’s leading human rights lawyer as he was attempting to visit his client in jail. HRF obtained an interview with the lawyer after his release, and published the story in Foreign Policy.

Given that freedom remains under threat across most of the world, your end of year gift is more vital than ever. We hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Kazakhstan: aiding an ailing civil society

As part of a new focus on governments that bury their human rights violations under news of economic development, HRF has launched a Kazakhstan advocacy campaign. Nursultan Nazarbayev is a Soviet-era dictator who has ruled and looted Kazakhstan as his family fiefdom since 1991. While much is written about rapid development under Nazarbayev’s reign, little is published about the Kazakh people, who suffer from a human rights desert with widespread government corruption, a stacked judiciary, state-controlled media and labor, and an asphyxiated civil society.

HRF has featured testimonies from Kazakh journalist Alexey Tikhonov and Kazakh playwright Bolat Atabayev at OFF and SFFF.  In October, HRF helped a group of Kazakh dissidents publish a letter in The Washington Examiner, asking U.S. leaders to pressure Nazarbayev to allow space for an independent media and civil society. Several days later, the Kazakh Embassy circulated an official response, declaring the dissident letter “baseless,” “biased,” and “unfair,” without providing any supporting evidence. On October 25, members of HRF’s board received a legal threat from Alexander Mirtchev, one of Nazarbayev’s servants in Washington. His lawyers insisted that HRF retract and remove the allegations that he had enriched himself by serving Nazarbayev. HRF has refused to cow to Mirtchev, publishing a story on the enablers of dictatorships in Forbes.

Pakistan: highlighting government impunity

In Pakistan, women continue to be victimized with honor killings, forced marriages, and rape as a form of retribution. These crimes go largely unpunished: Pakistan’s current legislation in defense of women is a hollow gesture, a written commitment without enforcement. In January, HRF submitted a legal report to the United Nations that highlighted the Pakistani government’s failure to prevent violence against women, urging it to effectively investigate all cases, prosecute those responsible, and adequately compensate the victims.

In September, HRF submitted another report to the UN on the Pakistani government’s failure to exercise due diligence in the case of rights advocate Mukhtar Mai. Ms. Mai was a victim of gang rape in her rural village of Meerwala, but the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted all but one of the accused. HRF invited Ms. Mai and Pakistani rights defender Asma Jahangir to speak at OFF, where they documented the appalling lack of rule of law and threats to free expression in their country.

Paraguay: Lugo’s impeachment, not a coup

In June 2012, when Paraguay’s parliament impeached President Fernando Lugo, the international media, global human rights establishment, and several governments of Latin America rushed to paint the events as a coup d’état. HRF, however, concluded in a public statement that the impeachment process was constitutional, and that any outside interference would harm Paraguay’s nascent democratic development. In support of its opinion, HRF published a column in Americas Quarterly, which was the most read article on the site for a week. That article was also published in Semana, Colombia’s leading magazine. HRF appeared on CNN en Español to discuss the case, and Spanish news service EFE used HRF as a main source in their story covering the ongoing situation, which then ran in leading newspapers across the Americas, including Paraguay’s ABC, Miami’s El Nuevo Herald, and Venezuela’s El Nacional. The Associated Press covered HRF’s opinion at length, and in its profile on the impeachment case, Foreign Policy quoted HRF as its first source. Much as HRF was attacked from the right for having declared the forcible removal of Manuel Zelaya from the presidency of Honduras as unconstitutional, with the Paraguay case we received almost identical criticism from the left.  Our client is rule of law and individual rights, not a partisan political ideology.

Russia: exposing corruption and abuse

HRF has become more involved in the Russian struggle for human rights and freedom. At OFF, HRF Chairman Garry Kasparov was joined by Pussy Riot spokesman Pytor Verzilov, opposition strategist Denis Bilunov, and playwright-activist Natalia Pelevine in a panel discussion focusing on the burgeoning Russian pro-democracy movement. This panel led to action in the Norwegian parliament and widespread media coverage of the Russian opposition movement, with a feature piece in CNN.

This summer and fall, Kasparov published op-eds in The Wall Street Journal and The Times of London, highlighting Putin’s repression. In August, HRF released a legal report on the Pussy Riot case, concluding that the arrest, bail denial, and criminal conviction of the three female punk rockers violated Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On August 17, Kasparov was arrested and beaten outside the Pussy Riot courthouse in Moscow. HRF published a popular article in Forbes that day on the case. Days later, Kasparov was found innocent of any crimes in a Russian court. HRF characterized this as a monumental decision, and a step in the right direction for the Russian legal system.

If you have made it this far it means you have an excellent grasp on HRF’s global impact despite its modest budget. It is why your end of year gift is more vital than ever. We hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Singapore: unveiling authoritarianism

In April, the government of Singapore—a country best known as a glittering cosmopolitan financial hub—forbade opposition leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan from participating in OFF. The country’s autocratic rulers, furious with Dr. Chee’s public criticism of the state, had previously rendered him bankrupt by suing him for defamation. The regime used his bankrupt status as an excuse to prevent him from traveling, in flagrant violation of international laws of free expression. Noting this in a public letter, HRF asked the Singaporean prime minister to lift Dr. Chee’s travel ban. The prime minister did not comply, and HRF arranged for Dr. Chee to participate at OFF in a video that went viral, generating more than 30,000 views in just a few days. The letter triggered an Associated Press wire and Yahoo! investigation that sparked a national debate in Singapore on political freedom. In Norway, the scandal was covered by Aftenposten and brought up in parliament, forcing the foreign ministry to publicly pressure the Singaporean government on the case. Since then, the regime has agreed to lift his travel ban. Dr. Chee will join HRF to denounce authoritarianism at OFF 2013.

Venezuela: spotlighting political persecution

Venezuela is a competitive authoritarian state where one man rules, his henchmen loot the treasury, and his regime supports dictatorships around the world. In April, HRF published an article highlighting President Chávez’s material support for Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime. Venezuela has been shipping Syria fuel throughout the two-year government crackdown, during which more than 40,000 people have been killed. In May, HRF declared Venezuelan Judge María Lourdes Afiuni a prisoner of conscience. Having freed a Chávez critic from prison, she endured his personal ire and has spent the last three years under pre-trial house arrest. HRF’s analysis of the case was published across the Spanish-speaking world. Also in May, HRF featured Venezuelan dissident and prison reformer Humberto Prado at OFF. He gave a searing indictment of the Venezuelan state for failing to address the state of its prisons, some of the world’s most deadly.

In July, HRF Senior Fellow Gustavo Tovar was detained by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) upon entering Venezuela. The author of a book on the creation of the country’s student movement, Tovar is also the founder of an organization that promotes the non-violent struggle against dictatorship.

In October, HRF submitted a petition and legal report to the United Nations requesting that it send an allegation letter to the government of Venezuela regarding the subordination of the judiciary to the executive power in that country.

PR and human rights: exposing despotism’s spindoctors

Today it is common practice for authoritarian rulers to hire PR companies. Such firms specialize in burying evidence of human rights violations under rosy language about stability, economic growth, and commitments to help the poor. Most dictatorships have paid editors to whitewash their digital reputations. This is a theme for which there appears to be little or no vigilance and HRF gaining traction as an authority on the subject. Last year, HRF published popular articles exposing how PR companies and even news wires support dictatorships from Bahrain to Uganda. HRF’s advocacy was covered by the BBC and the New Statesman. This past August, HRF published an article in Forbes, challenging the hagiographical narrative dominant in obituaries of Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia’s late tyrant. Zenawi had many friends in the West who rushed to lionize him upon his death. HRF was quick to counter this anti-human rights messaging. HRF continues to work on exposing former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young and his backroom deals with the dictator of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang.

Given that freedom remains under threat across most of the world, your end of year gift is more vital than ever. We hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Pitting Hollywood against dictatorship

Building on HRF’s 2011 campaign involving Hilary Swank, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Seal, and Vanessa Mae and their paid performance for Chechen tyrant Ramzan Kadyrov, HRF continues to expose celebrities who profit from working for dictators. HRF’s advocacy in that case generated press everywhere from CNN to The Guardian, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Hollywood Reporter—a story re-tweeted 45,000 times—shedding enormous light on human rights violations in Chechnya. In the wake of this news, a philanthropy group launched a service to provide celebrities with the human rights records of potential employers. Swank eventually apologized on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, saying she would donate her six-figure payment to charity.

In February, HRF revealed its nominations for Most Outstanding Performance in the Service of Human Rights, and its nominations for Biggest Human Rights Disappointment, an event covered in Forbes and The Independent. In August, in an article entitled “When a Celebrity Tells Her Dictator-Host, no Thanks,” The Atlantic reported on the case of Amanda Seales, a musician who declined to attend the Sullivan Foundation’s “human rights summit” in Equatorial Guinea after being warned by HRF. With these campaigns, HRF has created a demonstrable impact in popular culture. Because celebrity misconduct receives massive attention, countless individuals now know about the villainy of autocrats like Kadyrov and Obiang, and their PR ploys have suffered severe setbacks. Every talent agency heard about the Swank fiasco, and agents are being forced to be more careful when considering offers from dictatorships in the future.

Challenging the UN’s control over human rights

In June, HRF was invited to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva as part of a campaign to keep dictatorships from gaining seats on the council. HRF gave a statement about rights violations in Venezuela and other countries. The Cuban, Russian, Chinese, and Pakistani delegations all loudly protested. Cuba stated it would not permit such “language” in the council. Russia aligned itself with Cuba and accused HRF of violating procedure. China went further and demanded that HRF be prohibited from continuing with the presentation, as it was out of the scope of what we were "permitted" to say. HRF’s goal in Geneva was to leave testimony for posterity, given the demonstrable inefficacy of the UN body—but we did not expect that the dictatorships represented in the room would behave like a perfectly choreographed set of villains.

The video of HRF’s remarks spread quickly: The Washington Post, The American Interest, Frontpage Magazine, ProPublica, The Miami Herald, and The Global Post all covered the incident.

In November, HRF co-hosted a follow up event in New York with the Geneva-based NGO UN Watch, focusing on the ironic accession of the Kazakh, Pakistani, and Venezuelan governments to the UN Human Rights Council. HRF featured dissidents from each country, who testified against the absurd idea of their governments overseeing a human rights body. The event was profiled in several publications including The New York Times blog.

Internet freedom: tyrants and technology

In the last decade, a new area of human rights advocacy has emerged: internet freedom. Activists involved are concerned with digital censorship and governments using technology clandestinely to surveil and persecute their critics. HRF’s contribution to the area has been to emphasize the relationship between tyrants and technology.

Last December, HRF published an article in Forbes exposing the various companies whose equipment assists despotic governments in identifying, capturing, imprisoning, torturing, and often killing their adversaries. In January, HRF joined a coalition of civil liberty groups to successfully prevent the passing of the SOPA and PIPA bills in the U.S.—overbearing copyright legislation that would have set a worrying censorship precedent for autocratic regimes. This was followed by an invitation for HRF to present in Brazil at RightsCon Rio. There, HRF addressed how dictatorships, afraid of their own people, control free speech with complex information systems. In June, HRF published an article in Wired, praising Western civil society groups for keeping the government out of internet regulation, but urging them to keep the pressure on autocracies, which pose the largest censorship threat. HRF’s goal moving forward is to push for a major focus on tyrannical regimes and how they obtain the technology they use to prop up their systems of oppression.

Looking ahead

HRF will hold the fifth annual Oslo Freedom Forum on May 13, 14, and 15. The 2013 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent will be awarded on May 15, in Oslo. To register or learn more, please contact alex@oslofreedomforum.com.

HRF publishes regular updates on its work on Twitter @HRF and @OsloFF. You can also follow HRF and Oslo Freedom Forum on Facebook.

I don’t wish to come across as repetitive but, if the spirit moves you and you are impressed by the achievements of HRF’s staff, I hope you can consider making a contribution to HRF’s work today.

Thank you for your support—whether it is moral or financial.  We hope you stay with us on this journey and tell your friends about HRF.  We also hope you will save the date and join us in Oslo this coming May.

Warm regards this holiday season,

Thor Halvorssen