Dissidents and Dictators

HRF President and CEO Thor Halvorssen sat down with Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of slain Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, for a long-awaited Q&A. Hatice has been relentless in her campaign to bring justice to Jamal’s case since his brutal murder by an assassination squad inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. In this conversation, Hatice expands on her activism in immortalizing Jamal’s heritage, her experience with HRF's documentary, The Dissident, and makes the case for how Jamal’s murder was an attack against democracy and freedom worldwide.

More than one million Uyghurs are currently detained in China’s mass network of concentration camps, where they are regularly subject to torture, forced abortions, severe mental and bodily harm, and even forced labor. Young Uyghur activist Akida Pulat discusses how this system of abuse has impacted her family, and shares what companies, organizations, governments, and the general public should do in response to the Chinese government’s atrocities.

Steve Jurvetson talks on the importance of promoting and maintaining a system under which new ideas and technologies can arise that can disrupt the status quo and change the lives of billions for the better. This system can be no other than an open society that allows for the protection and promotion of people’s freedoms in all dimensions.

A message authored by Alexey Navalny from prison reflecting on the recent elections and condemning not just the terrible corruption of the Putin regime, but also the West failure to crack down on Russian influence abroad.

In this episode of Dissidents and Dictators, the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) International Legal Associate Michelle Gulino speaks with Russian pro-democracy activist and opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza about the rise of government repression in Putin’s Kafkaesque Russia. Under Putin’s rule, Russia has become one of the most repressive countries in the world. Kara-Murza is Vice President of the Free Russia Foundation, an international organization supporting civil society and democratic development in Russia, and he chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. He is also one of the major champions of the Magnitsky Act, and has been the target of two assassination attempts by Putin’s regime for his outspokenness against the dictatorship. Throughout this conversation, Kara-Murza details the methods and aims of Putin’s repressive apparatus, and how democratic leaders around the world can help support Russian civil society.

In the autumn of 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a 44 daylong war over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to thousands of civilian and military casualties, as well as more than one hundred thousand refugees. Despite a peace agreement, historical grievances, wartime atrocities, and nationalistic rhetoric have spurred continued violence and ethnic hatred between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This HRF conversation features journalist and security analyst Neil Hauer, who covered the 2020 conflict from Stepanakert, the largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh. His work focuses on politics and conflict in the South Caucasus, Russia’s role in the Syrian conflict, and violence and politics in Chechnya and Ingushetia.

As the world prepares for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) seeks to hold the Qatari government accountable for labor and human rights violations against migrant workers building the infrastructure for the event. Thousands of migrant workers have died on Qatari construction sites, and there are numerous reports of systemic exploitation and mistreatment against laborers. In this episode of Dissidents and Dictators, Miguel Delaney, Chief Football Writer for The Independent, speaks with veteran journalist Pete Pattison about the harmful conditions and human rights violations facing these migrant workers. The two discuss the Qatari government’s role in allowing these conditions to continue even after promises of labor reforms, and how FIFA teams and sponsors, and listeners like you, can pressure Qatari officials to improve labor conditions for migrant workers.

With millions being arbitrarily detained and imprisoned in labor camps in the Xinjiang region of China simply for speaking a different language and practicing a different culture, Silence Is Not An Option. Sit down with our panelists for a chance to listen to three individually unique stories all with the same end goal, to free their family, friends, and neighbors from the regime's tight grasp. Whether working as a journalist, teacher, researcher, or advocate these amazing activists go in-depth into their personal experiences and the prosecution they've undergone, as well as share how we can all do our part to end the Uyghur Genocide taking place in Xinjiang. Moderator: Guillermo S. Hava, Coordinator of the Harvard Human Rights Working Group, Harvard University Panelists: Jewher Ilham, Uyghur human rights activist Gulchehra Hoja, Uyghur journalist Irade Kashgary, Uyghur activist and HRF Freedom Fellow Closing Remarks: Dr. Victoria Tin-bor Hui, Associate Professor of Political Science at University of Notre Dame

Moderator: Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Foundation Panelists: Dr. Darren Byler: Anthropologist and Uyghur technopolitics expert Megha Rajagopalan: Buzzfeed international correspondent and investigative journalist Bethany Allen-Ebrahiminan: Axios China reporter What is unfolding in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also referred to as East Turkestan) is considered one of the worst human rights abuses in the world today. The Uyghur Region — known as the Xinjiang province in China — is often referred to as a dystopian surveillance state and an open-air prison. The actions of the Muslim minorities living in the region are heavily monitored through cell phone applications, frequent home inspections, and an array of checkpoints throughout the region. Anywhere from 1 to 3 million people, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Tajiks, and other ethnic minorities, are forcibly confined to the Uyghur Region by the Chinese government — simply because they speak a different language, practice religion, and embrace a different culture. Within these concentration camps built by the Chinese government, Uyghurs are forced to take “re-education” courses, and are subject to mental & bodily harm and torture. In many cases, they are coerced and trafficked into state-sponsored forced labor schemes to ramp up production in factories across the country. Featuring spotlight speakers and engaging panelists, this 2-day event aims to provide participants with a holistic and multi-dimensional understanding of the genocide unfolding in the region. Participants will leave equipped with concrete ideas on how they can help stand up against these atrocities.

The Long-Arm of Authoritarianism Moderator: Jenny Wang, Human Rights Foundation Panelists: Dr. Sean Roberts, Director of International Development Studies Program at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs Dr. Timothy Grose, Associate Professor of China Studies at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Alex Chow, Hong Kong activist and 2018 Nobel Peace Prize nominee What is unfolding in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (also referred to as East Turkestan) is considered one of the worst human rights abuses in the world today. The Uyghur Region — known as the Xinjiang province in China — is often referred to as a dystopian surveillance state and an open-air prison. The actions of the Muslim minorities living in the region are heavily monitored through cell phone applications, frequent home inspections, and an array of checkpoints throughout the region. Anywhere from 1 to 3 million people, including Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Tajiks, and other ethnic minorities, are forcibly confined to the Uyghur Region by the Chinese government — simply because they speak a different language, practice religion, and embrace a different culture. Within these concentration camps built by the Chinese government, Uyghurs are forced to take “re-education” courses, and are subject to mental & bodily harm and torture. In many cases, they are coerced and trafficked into state-sponsored forced labor schemes to ramp up production in factories across the country.