[citation needed] According to the New York Times, HRF "has helped smuggle activists out of repressive countries, provided many with broader exposure and connected others with prominent financiers and technologists".

[9] During the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented more than 450 cases of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, as well as reports of sexual abuse and rape.

[11] HRF sent letters to fifteen officers of law enforcement agencies of Belarus and officials of the government of the country, in which it called on them to voluntarily resign and warned them of responsibility for the crimes against humanity.

In 2015, the award was given to Danilo Maldonado, El Sexto,[18] a Cuban graffiti artist and activist who was arrested in December 2014 for trying to stage a performance art piece in the center of Havana.

The film, narrated by Edwidge Danticat, suggests that the descendants of African slaves, brought over from Haiti, live and work in unfair conditions akin to "modern day slavery".

[21] In March 2008 HRF wrote to Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa asking for the release of the imprisoned governor of the province of Orellana, Guadalupe Llori, implying that the charges against her were politically motivated.

HRF filed a communication with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, pleading that it activate its urgent action procedure and send an appeal to the government of Ecuador for the immediate release of political prisoner Guadalupe Llori.

"[28] Following the 2010 earthquake that took place in Haiti, HRF began a fundraising campaign for a food program devoted to the children of the St Clare's community of Port-au-Prince.

The program was started in 2000 by American author Margaret Trost and by Gérard Jean-Juste, a former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience who served as the priest of the St. Clare's community.

[29][30][31] In 2015, the Human Rights Foundation has helped to organize and bankroll a balloon drop of 10,000 copies of an edited version of the movie The Interview over North Korea.

Previously, the HRF "has financed balloon drops of pamphlets, TV shows, books and movies over a course of several years, though nothing as high-profile and crudely belittling to Kim Jong Un as is The Interview.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "about 100 hackers, coders and engineers gathered in San Francisco to brainstorm ways to pierce the information divide that separates North Korea from the rest of the world.

[47] The Forum brought attention to a number of human rights issues, and other attendees included Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman who challenged her country's ban on women driving by coordinating a "Women2Drive" protest via YouTube, and the spokesman of jailed Russian punk band Pussy Riot.

The conference featured HRF president Thor Halvorssen, Jordanian cartoonist Suleiman Bakhit, and North Korean refugee Yeonmi Park.

The scholars praised the group for putting "the spotlight on key global issues", but also stated that Cuban human rights activist and HRF then-chairman Armando Valladares had defended the 2009 Honduran coup d'état while speaking at the forum.