Russians who dare to speak out publicly against the war in
Ukraine face long prison terms. Alexei Gorinov, a municipal deputy in Moscow, received a seven-year prison sentence July 8 for “spreading false information” about the Russian military. His crime? Gorinov called for “stopping the war and withdrawing Russian troops from Ukraine’s territory” during a March ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 July, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, press freedom, Russia, ukraine
By
Noelani Kirschner More than a million people of Ukrainian descent live in the United States, primarily in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. U.S. museums across the country elevate
Ukrainian culture , history and art. “One of the things that President Putin’s war is trying to accomplish is to somehow erase Ukrainian identity,” Secretary of State Antony ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 5 July, 2022 | Topics: Art & Culture, Culture, News | Tags: arts, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, immigration, social activism, ukraine
Religious freedom is a core American value and a
universal human right . It’s also a vital foreign policy priority, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said June 2. “When the fundamental right of each person to practice their faith or to choose not to observe a faith is respected, people can make their fullest contributions to their ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 June, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: Burma, China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Secretary Blinken, Uyghurs
By
Leigh Hartman When governments flout democracy and the rule of law, human rights are in danger. Nowhere is that clearer than in the Russian government’s war against Ukraine, where the troops of President Vladimir Putin’s authoritarian regime have committed widespread atrocities, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said April 12, when announcing the release of the U.S. ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 April, 2022 | Topics: Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: Burma, China, civil society, freedom of expression, Russia, Secretary Blinken, Syria, ukraine
Ukrainian Americans continue to express solidarity with family and friends in their native homeland. They worry amid threats of another Russian invasion. “We stand with Ukraine and against Russian aggression against a sovereign nation,” Ihor Diaczun, president of the Illinois Division of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America,
said during a December rally in Chicago. “Our rally rejects the
Russian lies and disinformation .” ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 3 February, 2022 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civil society, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, international security, Russia, ukraine
By
Noelani Kirschner “Being a black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from,” Toni Morrison said in an interview with the New Yorker. “It doesn’t limit my imagination; it expands it.” Black women in the United States are transforming the literary world as writers, publishers, magazine editors and academics. Here are ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 2 February, 2022 | Topics: Culture, History, Human Rights, News | Tags: African Americans, arts, female leaders, freedom of expression, social activism
By
Amirah Ismail When does democracy start? In America, kids experience democracy as early as the first grade. Through participation in group activities, American students are immersed in
democratic principles like choice, consensus, and freedom of expression from an early age. In elementary schools — or primary schools — teachers and students make decisions at the beginning of the school ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 December, 2021 | Topics: Education, History, Human Rights, News | Tags: campus life, civil society, elections, freedom of expression, good governance, social activism
By
Sasha Ingber Broadcast journalist Sisay Fida was gunned down in Ethiopia as he walked home from a 2021 wedding. Freelance journalist Lyra McKee was covering a 2019 clash between police and rioters in Northern Ireland when a gunman, aiming at police, shot and killed her. Reporter Marie Colvin lost her eye to shrapnel in Sri Lanka ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 29 October, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, press freedom
The United States is rejoining the United Nations Human Rights Council to promote and defend human rights worldwide. The United States was elected October 14 to a seat on the council for a three-year term, from January 2022 to December 2024. The United States will be one of 47 nations composing the council. “Together, we ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 October, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, United Nations
Harassment and censorship of independent media and government critics is common in the Russian Federation. A so-called “foreign agents” law, passed in 2012 and repeatedly expanded, allows the Justice Ministry to label groups or individuals “foreign agents,” exposing them to fines and harassment that stymie their work. In July, Russian authorities prosecuted
human rights advocate Semyon Simonov , who exposed ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 10 August, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: freedom of expression, press freedom, Russia, social activism
Adalet Sabit’s daughter has never met her father. The government of the People’s Republic of China confiscated her husband’s passport and refused to let him leave Xinjiang, where Uyghurs live in a state of constant surveillance. Sabit says her video calls to her husband are denied and she doesn’t know if the pictures she sends ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 July, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
For Uyghurs, using their native language can mean a death sentence. People’s Republic of China authorities are sentencing Uyghur Muslim educators who publish textbooks in their native language to life in prison and even death. A PRC court on April 6 announced the
death sentence against Sattar Sawut , former director general of the education department in Xinjiang, for publishing ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 4 May, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
By
Leigh Hartman Russian authorities raided student magazine Doxa on April 14, arresting four editors and ransacking their homes. The students’ alleged crime? Reporting on university administrators’ attempts to intimidate students protesting in support of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Aleksey Navalny. The students’ arrest is the latest in the Kremlin’s ongoing crackdown on free and independent media ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 22 April, 2021 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: civil society, freedom of expression, press freedom, Russia
The People’s Republic of China is stepping up baseless prosecutions of Uyghur and other Muslim minorities, sentencing innocent people to years in prison, a new report says. In a February 24 report, Human Rights Watch says that the PRC’s judicial system in Xinjiang has sentenced 250,000 Uyghur and other ethnic minorities to prison, and that ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 15 March, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
The freedom to share ideas is so important to American democracy that protections for
free speech , enshrined in the
U.S. Constitution , also extend to other forms of peaceful expression. Watch this video to learn the many ways Americans can express themselves without government reprisal.
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 16 February, 2021 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News, Video | Tags: freedom of expression, IIP Videos
U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is urging American universities to defend against the Chinese Communist Party’s research theft and other threats to academic freedom. Speaking at Georgia Tech in Atlanta on December 9, Pompeo warned that the CCP’s theft of research to boost its military poses
risks for both universities and U.S. national security . He asked administrators, faculty and students ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 14 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of expression, international security, Secretary Pompeo
Free speech for Cubans, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans is under attack by their respective governments. “Freedom of expression is a human right,” Secretary of State
Michael R. Pompeo said on Twitter on November 24. “The United States stands with Cuba’s people.” In
Cuba , the Castro regime arrested musician Denis Solís González on November 9 and sentenced him to eight months in prison ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 9 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: Cuba, freedom of expression, Nicaragua, press freedom, venezuela
In the 80 years since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his
Four Freedoms speech — citing freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear — the United States has made these democratic principles central to its foreign policy. Today, the United States continues to champion human rights as a critical component of U.S. ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 8 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, Key Officials, News | Tags: China, civil society, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, press freedom
Human rights advocates continue to expose the Iranian regime’s violent response to nationwide protests in November 2019 despite the regime’s attempts to cover up the details. More than a year later, the United States and human rights organizations are still calling for an independent investigation into the brutal crackdown. Justice for Iran, a human rights ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 3 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, Iran, technology
By
Leigh Hartman Democratic nations are faulting the Chinese Communist Party’s disqualification of four democratically elected legislators in Hong Kong. The governments of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom call the CCP’s November 11 disqualification of the lawmakers a “clear breach” of the regime’s international obligations and commitment to uphold Hong Kong’s ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 3 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, corruption, freedom of expression, press freedom
By
Leigh Hartman The Chinese Communist Party forces critics and activists to publicly confess to crimes before trial, violating Chinese and international law, rights groups say. In a
recent report to the United Nations (PDF, 1MB), groups including Safeguard Defenders and Human Rights Watch say the CCP forces critics into confessions that are then aired on state-run television, making a mockery of due ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 2 December, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, civil society, freedom of expression, press freedom, social activism
An assistant professor at Princeton University lets students use code names to shield their identities when discussing topics deemed controversial by the Chinese Communist Party. He’s not alone, says the Wall Street Journal. Why is this happening? Code names are one step U.S. universities are taking to protect foreign students from the authoritarian reach of the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 7 October, 2020 | Topics: Education, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, international security
The illegitimate Maduro regime has used the COVID-19 pandemic to crack down on anyone who doesn’t comply with Maduro, a Human Rights Watch report says. Since mid-March, “Venezuelan authorities have arbitrarily detained and prosecuted dozens of journalists, health care workers, human rights lawyers and political opponents who criticize the government of Nicolás Maduro,”
according to HRW . The organization ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 October, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civil society, corruption, freedom of expression, venezuela
Zhang Jialong, a former journalist and anti-censorship activist, faced trial in China in May after criticizing the Chinese government on Twitter. Chinese authorities reportedly charged Zhang with “
picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” He is just the latest victim of the Chinese Communist Party’s continued detention of reporters, lawyers and human rights activists as part of the ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, civil society, freedom of expression, press freedom
Iran’s regime arbitrarily arrested thousands of protesters following nationwide demonstrations in November 2019, torturing dozens and sentencing several to death, a new report says. Amnesty International, in a
report issued September 2 , says the Iranian regime prosecuted more than 500 protesters on sham charges and describes a “torture epidemic,” including flogging, electric shocks and mock executions. “The Iranian authorities ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 21 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: corruption, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, Iran
Iranian lawmakers have proposed banning all foreign-owned social messaging apps and replacing them with domestic versions run by the regime. Dozens of lawmakers have signed the August 24 proposal to create a committee to license and monitor domestic social networking sites and impose punishments of up to two years in prison for violating the new ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 September, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: freedom of expression, Iran, technology
In spite of its dismal record on human rights, Cuba’s government is seeking a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council for the 2021–2023 term. “It’s outrageous that the Human Rights Council would offer to seat Cuba, a brutal dictatorship that
traffics its own doctors under the guise of humanitarian missions,” Secretary of State Michael R.
Pompeo said on August ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 1 September, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: civic equality, Cuba, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, press freedom, United Nations
The People’s Republic of China must now reveal more about its role in supporting Confucius Institutes’ activities on U.S. college campuses, which include propaganda and censorship. The U.S. Department of State on August 13 designated the Washington-based headquarters of the Confucius Institute network a foreign mission of the PRC.
Under the designation , the Confucius Institute U.S. Center ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 27 August, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of expression, international security, Secretary Pompeo
The United States has imposed sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials for their role in the crackdown on Hong Kong’s autonomy and freedoms. The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued sanctions August 7 that target Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and 10 other senior officials, including several who helped develop or implement the
Hong Kong National Security Law passed ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 17 August, 2020 | Topics: News, News from Washington | Tags: China, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression
Iran’s regime continues persecution of human rights defenders (July 20) Protesters, journalists and women who refuse to wear a hijab all risk facing trial in Iran. But many of the lawyers trained to fight for those defendants are already in jail. According to a recent report from the Center for Human Rights in Iran, ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: civil society, freedom of expression, Iran, social activism, women's empowerment
China’s economic blitzkrieg (July 20) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exploited global business norms to drive its economic rise. Now the CCP is using its economic power to gain leverage over nations and businesses and limit freedoms around the world.
In July 16 remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. Attorney General William Barr detailed how the CCP is ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 July, 2020 | Topics: Business, Economic Affairs, Economic Issues, Key Officials, News | Tags: 5G, China, freedom of expression, intellectual property rights, international security, Trade
Authoritarian regimes’ unclear laws make anyone a suspect (July 16) For laws to be just, they must be clear. Citizens must know what is — and is not — against the law. Precise language helps ensure that laws are enforced fairly. But some countries take advantage of their unclear laws. The Chinese government regularly ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 16 July, 2020 | Topics: History, Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, Iran, policing
Chinese media: Press or propagandists? (July 7) Chinese state-run news organizations would like the world to think that they are independent and trustworthy. They are not. Many of these outlets work to spread
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda around the world, and their employees effectively work for the Chinese Communist Party. That was the conclusion of Secretary of State ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 7 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: China, freedom of expression, press freedom
Report: CCP conducts mass sterilization of minority women (July 6) The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is conducting a campaign of mass sterilization of women as part of its repression of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, a new report says. Using Chinese government documents and interviews with survivors, the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 6 July, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News, News from Washington | Tags: China, cultural preservation, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, Uyghurs
America’s free press offers diverse views on protests (June 29) The right to a free press is one of America’s most cherished liberties, fostering a wide-ranging discussion among citizens. When demonstrators in U.S. cities protested the May 25 death of George Floyd and other instances of police officers’ use of excessive force, America’s editors ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 29 June, 2020 | Topics: News | Tags: civic equality, civil society, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, press freedom
Police leaders march in solidarity with peaceful protesters (June 11) Americans often have different opinions on how to tackle pressing social challenges, but U.S. citizens share a respect for the right to free speech, free expression and peaceful protest. Some police leaders have joined peaceful demonstrations in the aftermath of the death of George ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 11 June, 2020 | Topics: Human Rights, News | Tags: civic equality, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, policing, social activism
Iranian president begs voters to be regime’s ‘savior’ (February 20) Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledges that Iran’s regime is in dire straits. But rather than taking responsibility, he is asking the Iranian people to vote for more of the same. At a recent rally in Tehran, Rouhani implored the Iranian people to set aside any ...
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By U.S. Embassy Tbilisi | 20 February, 2020 | Topics: Key Documents, News, News from Washington | Tags: elections, freedom of expression, Iran, social activism
