(1/2) Kimmel. Colbert. Lawsuits against the NYT, WSJ, 60 Minutes. Blocking AP's access to the White House. Handpicking reporters for the White House press pool. In every country where human rights are under assault, the first target is always the truth. And that starts with silencing the press.

(2/2) History has shown us where this road leads. We need every American to speak out. Right now. A free press is not the enemy of the people. It is the voice of the people.

(1/4) Our client, Daniel Cortes De La Valle, spent 7+ months in ICE custody, sleeping in filthy cells, mocked for his weight, and denied epilepsy medication. He attempted suicide four times. Each time, he was thrown in a mold-infested solitary cell.

We'll see you in court. ➡️ More information: rfkhro.org/3ImvUG4

“Angola has a dark history. It isn’t just a prison, it was once a plantation of enslaved people and later called the 'bloodiest prison in America.' Using it for immigration detention is no accident.” - Anthony Enriquez, our VP of US Advocacy & Litigation.

(1/4) BREAKING: RFKHR, ACLU of Louisiana, and @nipnlg.bsky.social have filed federal complaints exposing widespread sexual abuse and an unsanctioned forced labor scheme targeting trans/GNC detained people at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center.

(1/5) 🧵 Sidestepping Congress and the Constitution. Normalizing mass surveillance and police militarization. Scapegoating people with the courage to speak out. Democracy in the US is facing generational challenges. Here’s how ➡️.

(2/5) Checks and balances define the democratic process, but the executive branch is gutting federal oversight created by Congress to protect everyone's rights.

(3/5) The U.S. government is expanding surveillance under the guise of “security,” chilling dissent on campuses and targeting immigrants, students, and civic space activists.

(4/5) People with the courage to speak out are facing retaliation and targeting from a government that is supposed to be for, of, and by the people.

(5/5) Our team at @rfkhumanrights.bsky.social has seen how authoritarianism creeps in when world leaders weaken institutions, eschew accountability, and weaponize fear. This Int'l Day of Democracy serves as a stark reminder that now, our fight for freedom is closer to home than ever.

#Chicago is full of activists and organizers who love their hometown and make it the vibrant and beautiful city it is. If you'd like to support local organizations leading this work, follow @immigrantjustice.bsky.social and @icirr.bsky.social.

(1/2) #Nepal: We strongly condemn the govt’s deadly crackdown on youth protesting corruption and a social media ban, with police killing at least 17 people and injuring over a hundred.

(1/4) Happy Birthday to our president and fearless leader, @kerrykennedy.bsky.social! When Kerry became president of RFK Human Rights, she wanted to realize her late father’s dream of a more just and peaceful world. And she's been doing just that.

(1/4) The Trump administration joins the worst human rights violators on Earth. In an unprecedented move, the Trump administration is boycotting the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations this November.

(2/4) The UPR is a mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights record every five years.

(3/4) The US govt's decision comes amid a growing outcry over its treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers, including indefinite detention, for-profit detention centers, and mass deportations that violate due process and international law.

(4/4) But we're not backing down! We're organizing a People’s UPR on October 23 at the Church Center of the UN in NYC. Our event will uplift testimony from impacted communities and expose the systemic abuses the US gov't refuses to address.

(1/3) Today marks one year since the volunteer lawyer of Foro Penal #KennedyTejeda, was arbitrarily transferred to Tocorón prison, under false accusations. We demand his immediate release and that of the more than 800 political prisoners in #Venezuela.

(1/2) "No Democracy can be stronger or more enlightened than the will of its citizens to direct its affairs; the whole idea of Democracy, after all, is that of self-government, of rule by consent of the people...

(1/4) #Guatemala: In 1989, military personnel forcibly removed four Indigenous human rights defenders—Agapito Pérez Lucas, Nicolás Mateo, Macario Pú Chivalán, and Luis Ruiz Luis— from their homes. To this day, their whereabouts remain unknown. #IDOD2025

(1/5) #Bangladesh: On this International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, we honor the resilience of survivors like Mir Ahmad BinQuasem, known as Arman, and remember hundreds who remain missing.

(2/5) For eight years, Arman was secretly detained by Bangladesh’s security forces in a pitch-black cell within a clandestine detention site run by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

(3/5) Shackled, blindfolded, and subjected to unbearable conditions, his case is one of approximately 1,800 enforced disappearances under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, now under investigation by Bangladesh’s Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances.

(4/5) In May 2025, Arman led our team through the secret RAB-1 site where he was held, just steps from Dhaka’s bustling airport. The Commission has uncovered at least 16 such sites. At RAB-1 alone, thousands are believed to have been detained and in many cases, tortured or killed.

(5/5) We stand with Arman, with Maayer Daak, and all the families still searching for truth, and with all victims of enforced disappearances. Read our reflections ⬇️.

Women journalists are increasingly facing disproportionate and specific threats in sub-Saharan Africa, exacerbated by developments in tech. @rfkhumanrights.bsky.social recent report looks at how strategic litigation could improve accountability and protection. 👇 rfkhumanrights.org/report/gbv-a...

(1/4) On November 8, 2008, Oswaldo Marcelo Lucero was stabbed and killed by a group of seven teenagers, engaging in a series of targeted assaults against Latinos in Suffolk County, New York.

📝 New Report: In May 2025, we analyzed rising violence against women journalists in East & West Africa. Our new report explores key drivers of these attacks & identifies paths for strategic litigation. rfkhumanrights.org/report/gbv-a...

(1/5) What’s happening at "Alligator Alcatraz," the "Speedway Slammer," "Angola" and other state-run ICE detention centers is not civil immigration enforcement. It is punishment without conviction.

(1/5) #Myanmar: 8 years ago today, the Myanmar military & authorities launched a brutal campaign of mass violence against Rohingya communities in Rakhine State. The genocide is ongoing in Rakhine State, w/ the remaining #Rohingya population facing ongoing abuse from armed groups.

(1/3) Last month, in a landmark decision, a federal judge ordered the release of 19-year-old asylum-seeker Oliver Mata Velasquez, ruling that ICE’s arrest of him outside a Buffalo immigration court was unlawful. theintercept.com/2025/08/19/i...

We commend NULAI Nigeria’s Virtual Street Law Programme & Competition, raising awareness on freedom of expression & press freedom in Nigeria through creative social media engagements. Watch the competition videos ⬇️. www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Watch @ajenglish.bsky.social 's powerful feature on our partner and 2017 Human Rights Award laureate Alfredo Romero, highlighting his fearless fight for justice and freedom for Venezuela’s political prisoners ⬇️. www.aljazeera.com/video/witnes...

(1/3) Five-point shackles fastened over open wounds. Torturous solitary confinement. Expired food tainted by black mold, infested with bugs, maggots, and rats. Grievances and peaceful protests met with physical violence and sexual assault from guards.

(1/4) What’s happening at the ICE jail in the FL Everglades, the so-called “Alligator Alcatraz," is a moral outrage. The US govt is denying people food, hygiene, medical care, & even pressuring them to give up their legal rights in exchange for a blanket.

(2/4) The stories are harrowing. A fiancée of one detainee said she counted more than 100 people in just one tent. People are sleeping next to overflowing toilets, completely cut off from legal help and the outside world.

(3/4) Local residents, including faith groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, are urging the gov't to shut this facility down. You can join them every Sunday from 5:00pm-6:00pm outside the detention center. RVSP here: bit.ly/RSVP-FLVigils

(4/4) This is not justice. It's cruelty by design. I stand with the families, community members, and human rights advocates demanding accountability and dignity for all people held in immigration detention.

(1/6) Rats. People crowded in a room w/ no AC and outside temperatures nearing 90 degrees. A woman begging for four and a half months to see a doctor for suspected colon cancer. Another woman finally granted a doctor's visit, only to be sexually assaulted.

(2/6) These are some of the horror stories we heard during our recent visit to ICE detention centers across Louisiana. These facilities, mostly located in remote towns far from legal aid or media scrutiny, are the frontlines of a growing humanitarian crisis.

(3/6) Since the start of the second Trump admin, the federal govt has shuttled more than 40,000 people through immigration detention centers across Louisiana in an effort to make the state the "FedEx" of immigration enforcement, likening people to packages.

(4/6) Many of these facilities are run by the notorious GEO Group, a private prison operator. And if you have a retirement account, you may very well be invested in GEO's stock.

(5/6) Among the top investors in GEO are several common index funds that you may hold. Those investments provide the resources that GEO Group uses to lock up hundreds of thousands of people each year. More info: morningstar.com/stocks/xnys/geo/ownership

(6/6) If you are appalled by our privately driven immigration system, and the serious financial risks inherent in the private prison model, read my op-ed with ACLU of Louisiana's Alanah Odoms to learn what you can do to keep your money from being used against your values.

There is still time to register for our upcoming Book Club with @jonathanblitzer.bsky.social ! 📚 Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America and the Making of Crisis 🗓️ Thursday, August 21 at 2:00pm ET 🔗 Register: rfkhro.org/45rn5SX

In #Venezuela, human rights defenders face harassment, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances for speaking out, all part of a broader post-election crackdown targeting civil society. rfkhumanrights.org/our-voices/d...

The #MarcoTemporal law in Brazil limits Indigenous land claims to 1988 boundaries, threatening communities, constitutional rights, and the preservation of the Amazon rainforest. It could affect millions of hectares of protected territory. rfkhumanrights.org/our-voices/b...

(1/5) Last month, I joined a delegation of civil rights advocates to tour several ICE jails in Louisiana. I went on the The Illuminator podcast to share what I witnessed, alongside Anthony Enriquez, our VP of US Advocacy and Litigation at @rfkhumanrights.bsky.social.

(2/5) What we saw was deeply troubling. As Anthony put it, we witnessed "a bureaucratic nightmare of people being lost in a system, treated like faceless, nameless entities." It was a "loss of human dignity that was really disturbing to see.”