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70th Anniversary of Freedom House
Feb 4, 2011

This year Freedom House celebrates its 70th anniversary. We invite you to visit the special anniversary section of our website where you can learn more about the history and evolution of Freedom House through photos, videos, and narrative. We will be adding information throughout the year so please revisit us often during the coming months as we chronicle the life of Freedom House and celebrate 70 years of serving as an unwavering advocate for democracy and human rights throughout the world.
 

Launch the 70th Anniversary application

Watch the introductory video

Crackdown in Belarus: Responding to the Lukashenko Regime
Jan 28, 2011

(Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs, 1/27/2011)

 

Freedom House Executive Director David J. Kramer testified yesterday before the Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs about the violence and egregious human rights violations that occurred in the aftermath of last month’s presidential elections in Belarus and the possibility of  increased U.S. sanctions against members of the Lukashenko regime.  Following the election, which was marred by irregularities according to observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the U.S. Embassy, security forces arrested hundreds of activists, including seven of the opposition candidates who ran for president, who protested the official claim of Mr. Lukashenko’s overwhelming victory.

 

The other witnesses included Senator Richard Durbin, who recently traveled to Belarus, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Philip Godon, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Democracy, Human, Rights and Labor Thomas O. Melia,  Kenneth Wollack, President of the National Democratic Institute, and Natalia Kaliada, a Belarussian asylum seeker who was arrested in the December crackdown. 

 

Read more

View the testimony here
Watch the testimony here

Highlighting Human Rights During US Visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao
Jan 21, 2011


As President Obama welcomed Chinese President Hu Jintao at the White House, Freedom House joined a group of Chinese political prisoners and dissidents, as well as several members of U.S. Congress and prominent human rights organizations, at a press conference on Capitol Hillto call attention to the Chinese government’s systematic abuses of human rights.


View photos from the event

Press Releases
Recent Reports
Governance Blog

Egypt's democratic facade continues to crumble

December 01, 2010 -

Egypt’s November parliamentary elections saw, as expected, a sweeping victory for the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), though that triumph occurred amid allegations of the worst fraud, electoral rigging, and political repression that Egypt has ever seen.

In the News

Turmoil in Albania Offers Lessons for Middle East

February 07, 2011 - Huffington Post, by Matt Brady

Time to Hit Lukashenko Where it Hurts

February 01, 2011 - Financial Times, by David J. Kramer

Obama Has Failed to Fulfill His Mideast Promise

January 31, 2011 - Der Spiegel, by David J. Kramer

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One student died and several were injured after being beaten by Northern Sudanese police while participating in protests against the government. In the recent days, student protests have risen up in the major cities of Sudan inspired by the on-going events in Tunisia and Egypt.
Somaliland court recently sentenced the editor of a daily newspaper to 3 years of imprisonment on accusations of defamation and “spreading false news”. The editor, Mohamud Abdi Jama, Waheen, published a story criticizing corruption of some public officers when hiring workers for a State-owned company.
According to local media in Nicaragua, several journalists from newspaper El Diario Nuevo have reportedly been threatened after publishing articles dealing with alleged corruption within the government of President Daniel Ortega. The newspaper accused the Housing Ministry and the equivalent of the IRS of numerous acts of corruption and nepotism.
Human rights activists in Bahrain reported the arrest of Mohammed Rashid, a political blogger and critic of the government. Mr. Rashid’s alleged crimes include detailing human rights abuses by the government and spreading opposition statements.