We promote and protect democracy & human rights around the world, with a focus on authoritarian regimes. 👉 Attend our human rights conference: @osloff
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Last night, as Xi Jinping landed in Washington for his first state visit in more than a decade, we projected the faces of eight political prisoners onto the streets of D.C.
Their names rolled through the city on truck ads. Their faces were prominently featured in Roll Call. Their families continue speaking up for them — because the Chinese Communist Party locked them up for peaceful acts: teaching, writing, worshipping, speaking, simply existing.
Joshua Wong, awaiting sentence on a charge that carries a maximum of life imprisonment. Owen Chow, sentenced to nearly 8 years in the HK47 case. Dr. Gulshan Abbas, taken days after her sister spoke in Washington. Ilham Tohti, serving life as a professor. Gao Zhen, sentenced to three years for art. Pastors Wang Lin, Gao Yingjia, and Gao Quanfu, imprisoned for leading their churches.
Today, as Xi sits down with President Trump, HRF has one simple request: #ReleaseThem
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The families of China’s prisoners of conscience are still waiting for their loved ones to come home. Among them is Cherie Geng, whose husband, Pastor Gao Yingjia, has been arbitrarily detained for nearly a year.
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Cherie now helps organize the families of other detained church members, coordinating calls, communicating with lawyers, and keeping attention on their cases. Her son still prays for his father to come home.
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The cases of China’s prisoners of conscience should not be forgotten. HRF calls for the immediate release of Pastor Gao Yingjia and the other detained Zion Church members. #ReleaseThem
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Human Rights Foundation (HRF) retweeted
It was an honor to welcome @LMOAlcantara to our office this week. Through our Impact Litigation Project, we are proud to have represented him pro bono before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. After five years in prison, his courage is unbroken.
After five years of imprisonment, Cuban artist and prisoner of conscience Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (@LMOAlcantara) is no longer behind bars. This week, we had the honor of welcoming the 2025 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent laureate to our New York office. Pictured: Luis Manuel with HRF Chief Advocacy Officer Roberto González (@gmxrob).
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Human Rights Foundation (HRF) retweeted
This week, on the eve of Xi Jinping's visit to DC, the Lantos Foundation joined with @HRF, family members of Chinese prisoners of conscience, activists, and advocates to call on Xi to release eight individuals unjustly imprisoned by his regime. Their names and faces were projected in prominent locations and on truck ads throughout the city. (Photos: HRF/Emily Chastain)
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After five years of imprisonment, Cuban artist and prisoner of conscience Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara (@LMOAlcantara) is no longer behind bars. This week, we had the honor of welcoming the 2025 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent laureate to our New York office. Pictured: Luis Manuel with HRF Chief Advocacy Officer Roberto González (@gmxrob).
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He served his sentence in full, denied the reductions Cuban law provides. Acting on an HRF petition, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention arbitrary in late 2022 and called for his immediate release. Read our full statement → hrf.org/latest/hrf-condemns-…
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Human Rights Foundation (HRF) retweeted
.@HRF Highlights Eight Prisoners of Conscience: HRF highlighted eight prisoners of conscience during Xi’s visit, projecting their images, including Dr. Gulshan Abbas, in Washington D.C.
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When Xi Jinping arrived in Washington, D.C., we put the faces and names of political prisoners across the streets of the city. For those who have experienced the Chinese Communist Party’s abuses firsthand, this was a moment to demand freedom for those still behind bars. Their message to Xi Jinping: #ReleaseThem
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HRF is calling for the release of Gao Zhen — the 70-year-old Chinese dissident artist and US permanent resident sentenced last month to 3 years in prison for satirical sculptures.
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Gao Zhen was 12 when his father died in custody during the Cultural Revolution. Now, the same system has put him behind bars: 581 days of pretrial detention, a closed-door trial his wife and son were barred from attending, and no end date on the exit ban keeping his family in China. But even in detention, he keeps making art — portraits of his son torn by hand from paper.
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Gao Zhen must be released immediately and unconditionally, and safely reunited with his family. #ReleaseThem
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Human Rights Foundation (HRF) retweeted
A world in which human rights are not defended is a world in which autocrats prevail. From Havana to Beijing, the defense of fundamental freedoms concerns us all. We applaud @HRF for spotlighting Joshua Wong, Owen Chow, Dr. Gulshan Abbas, Ilham Tohti, Gao Zhen, Wang Lin, Gao Yingjia, and Gao Quanfu during Xi Jinping’s U.S. visit.
Via @HRF
#Canada #HumanRights #PoliticalPrisoners
Human Rights Foundation (HRF)
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HRF and 28 other NGOs, including @CHRDnet, @theCFHK, and @hrichina, have a clear message for Xi Jinping: Release all prisoners of conscience, end transnational repression, and repeal the abusive laws behind these crackdowns. hrf.org/latest/joint-open-le…
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Xi and Trump are also expected to meet at APEC and G20 convenings later this year. Our joint letter points out a troubling precedent — during Xi's 2023 APEC visit to San Francisco, peaceful demonstrators were harassed, intimidated, and violently assaulted by pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) actors — and asks Xi to commit that his delegation will refrain from any such repression while on US soil. hrf.org/latest/joint-open-le…
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How Beijing treats its critics and ethnic groups — inside its borders and far beyond them — lays bare how the party-state wields authoritarian power. HRF and fellow signatories stand in solidarity with every community the Chinese government unjustly targets, and will keep monitoring and exposing the CCP's human rights violations. #ReleaseThem
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