https://freedomhouse.org/report/free-them-all
Amidst a years-long decline in global freedom, public demands for fundamental rights and accountable governance are growing more urgent around the world. Entrenched autocratic leaders recognize these demands as a threat to their grip on power, and their regimes have consequently intensified efforts to silence human rights defenders and democracy activists. Through this new initiative, Freedom House aims to document and study the cases of the thousands of activists who have been imprisoned or otherwise deprived of their liberty, and to advocate for their immediate release.
Global Suppression of Dissent
Repressive governments around the world are using a range of tactics to detain and deter the work of human rights defenders and democracy activists.
The map below shows only a sample of the many settings and circumstances in which such individuals have been deprived of their personal liberty.
A new initiative
Freedom House seeks to both highlight and combat authoritarian repression, in part by emphasizing its human toll. The experiences of the individuals profiled here illustrate the significant pressures and harms that human rights defenders and prodemocracy activists face in reprisal for their work. Located around the globe, these artists, journalists, and activists often languish in squalid prison conditions, sentenced or detained with little regard for due process rights, and unable to see their legal representatives or loved ones.
These individuals represent only a fraction of the many democracy and human rights defenders worldwide who endure similar circumstances. Mapping the scale and scope of such restrictions, and the stories behind the numbers, is essential to holding perpetrators accountable and securing the unconditional release of all confined activists. Their personal freedom, combined with long-term support for those who wish to continue their democracy and human rights work, is in turn a necessity if democratic forces are to reverse recent trends and roll back the expansion of authoritarian rule.
ree Them All: The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners is named in honor of pathbreaking American journalist and former Washington Post editorial page editor Fred Hiatt.
Hiatt, who served as the editor of the Washington Post editorial page since 2000, was an outstanding journalist and a tireless advocate for democracy and human rights. Under his leadership, the Post’s editorial and opinion pages became a beacon for the world’s human rights activists and a formidable platform for challenging despots and autocrats globally. Hiatt’s commitment to these causes was not just professional but deeply personal, as evidenced by his relentless campaign to demand accountability for the murder of Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi authorities.
