At the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, we are dismantling dictatorship: convening activists, thinkers, technologists, and artists disrupting authoritarian regimes with ingenuity, creativity, and solidarity. Join us June 1–3 at the Oslo Konserthus. Secure your tickets . → https://ow.ly/WbVj50YHakk
For local footballers, international sporting events are opportunities to escape both conscription into indefinite national service akin to forced labor and an ultra repressive one-party militarized state where fundamental freedoms and rights are absent. www.panafricafootball.com/post/eritrea...
Under Isaias Afwerki’s regime, absolute control outweighs national prestige, and sporting heroes are viewed as flight risks.
More than 60 players have defected since 2009. To prevent “embarrassing” defections, Eritrea’s regime frequently withdraws from major tournaments, including the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
The Eritrean squad included 10 players, but only three of them returned home. Seven players absconded during the team’s transit in South Africa en route to Eritrea via Egypt. www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/...
Eritrea secured a spot in the 2027 AFCON group stage qualifiers by stunning Swaziland 2-1 at the Somhlolo National Stadium in the Swazi capital Mbabane.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZCZ...
On March 31, the Eritrean national football team traveled to Swaziland to face the Swazi side as part of Eritrea’s first campaign to participate in AFCON since 2008.
This is the most recent occurrence in a longstanding pattern of defections of Eritrean athletes, who choose the uncertainty of exile over a return to one of the world’s most repressive states.
Seven players on Eritrea’s national football team have defected after playing an international pre-qualifier in Swaziland for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
As a result, Guelleh has consistently claimed implausibly high vote shares in elections. africacenter.org/spotlight/en...
Since Guelleh inherited the presidency from his uncle in 1999, his regime has exerted absolute control of the electoral process, heavily tilting the electoral playing field in its favor and systematically suppressing viable opposition and dissent.
Guelleh, 78, seeks to extend his more than 26 years of rule after orchestrating a constitutional amendment last year that removed the presidential age limit of 75. x.com/HRF/status/1...
The only opponent allowed on the ballot is Mohamed Farah Samatar, a former ruling party member and the leader the United Democratic Center (CDU), which holds no parliamentary seats. www.africanews.com/amp/2026/04/...
Guelleh faces no serious challengers. The main opposition parties — the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development (MRD) and the Republican Alliance for Democracy (ARD) — are boycotting the election, citing a lack of fairness and integrity.
On April 10, Djibouti's dictator Ismaïl Omar Guelleh will stage sham presidential elections as a formality to secure his sixth term. HRF condemns this scripted and hollow electoral ritual, which will merely maintain the dynastic dictatorship that has ruled Djibouti since independence.
To learn more about systematic discrimination and persecution against the Rohingya ethnic minority, watch former @oslofreedomforum.com speaker Wai Wai Nu: www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyYE...
Civil society groups note that Indonesia’s penal code incorporates the principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing officials to prosecute certain grave crimes regardless of where they were committed or the nationalities of victims.
In 2017, Burma’s military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, launched a series of attacks against the Rohingya, marked by mass killings, sexual violence, and widespread arson. The violence forced more than 700,000 people to flee their homes and seek refuge in Bangladesh. www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia...
HRF welcomes the criminal case filed in Indonesia by civil society groups against Burmese coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, which accuses him of genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority. HRF stands in solidarity with the survivors of genocide and those who seek justice for its victims.
After years of imprisonment for challenging authoritarian rule in Belarus, Sergey Tihanovski joins us at the Oslo Freedom Forum this June in Oslo, Norway, bringing a firsthand perspective on political repression, resilience, and the fight for democratic change.
That spirit continues far beyond a single gathering.
Explore HRF’s CCP Disruption Initiative: hrf.org/program/chin...
At HRF’s Beyond Borders activist retreat, something powerful came together.
Across communities and countries, young advocates connected, shared, and built lasting solidarity, reminding us that this work is never done alone. www.youtube.com/shorts/F3RwS...
This power grab was cemented in January 2026, when the regime and allied parties seized every single one of the country’s 109 parliamentary seats.
www.aljazeera.com/opinions/202...
(...) capturing the judiciary and the legislature, rewriting electoral rules to exclude opposition parties from the ballot, and cracking down on independent media and civil society.
Since his election in 2016, Talon — who survived an attempted coup in December 2025 — has carried out a multi-pronged effort to consolidate authoritarian power by accumulating executive authority (...)
They were prosecuted by the Court for the Suppression of Economic Crimes and Terrorism (CRIET), a special court established by Talon in 2018 that the regime has used to disproportionately jail political opponents. www.africanews.com/2022/07/28/b...
Other prominent political opponents such as Reckya Madougou and Joël Aïvo remain behind bars serving long prison sentences on politically motivated charges.
The court allowed only one opponent in the contest: Paul Hounkpè, a polarizing opposition figure believed by some to be aligned with Talon.
democracyinafrica.org/the-real-cou...
Benin’s Constitutional Court, which is subservient to Talon’s regime, barred the leader of the country’s largest opposition party, Renaud Agbodjo, from the ballot on a technicality.
While Talon is following the constitutional two-term limit by not seeking reelection, his handpicked successor, Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni, faces no serious challengers.