Recent remarks by Spanish official Ángel Carromero in The Washington Post are shedding new light on the events that resulted in the death of Cuban dissident and human rights activist Oswaldo Payá. Carromero was driving the vehicle in which Payá was traveling along with two other passengers in July 2012 …
Today, Cyprus’s banks opened for the first time in more than 10 days, after Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades—without seeking approval from his parliament—agreed to bailout terms that will raid citizens’ bank accounts. Those banking in Cyprus should not get too excited about the banks reopening. Strict capital controls are in …
This week, Senator Benjamin Cardin (D–MD) nominated the “grandma” of the Russian human rights movement, Lyudmila Alekseeva, for the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize. Cardin’s nomination of the veteran of the dissident movement affirms the United States’ support for human rights activists in Russia and gives this “peacemaker” the recognition she …
Many self-righteous and smug Eurocrats will be celebrating the European Union’s Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded earlier today in Oslo, Norway. Wisely and sensibly, some European leaders, such as British Prime Minister David Cameron and Czech President Václav Klaus, decided not to attend today’s ceremony. It was clear to …
Of all those whom we at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation have honored with the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom—and they include such famed defenders of freedom as Vaclav Havel, Lech Walesa, Vladimir Bukovsky, and Harry Wu—none surpasses the courage and commitment of Elena Bonner, who passed away last Saturday. …
The Norwegian Nobel Committee held its annual awards ceremony last week in Oslo, where it intended to award the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese intellectual and human rights activist Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Still imprisoned, Liu was prevented from …
This morning, the U.S. State Department announced that the U.S. had submitted its “Report of the United States of America” to the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights. This report was submitted as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) conducted by the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). …
