The consolidation of power is paramount for authoritarian leaders, and it often comes at the expense of the rights and dignity of citizens. Dissidents who speak out can expect to be exiled, jailed, or killed under these regimes. According to the U.S. government, there are more than one million political prisoners in the world today.

Welcome to The Struggle for Freedom, a monthly series about democracy and human rights activists abroad and why supporting them is the right thing for Americans to do, strategically as well as morally.

Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of the small political party Transform Zimbabwe, was swept up in a preemptive crackdown that headed off a nationwide anti-corruption protest planned for July 31, 2020.  

Jimmy Lai has endured more than 140 days of hearings since November 2023, when his trial for violations of Hong Kong’s National Security law began following a postponement of almost a year.

A Hong Kong court has once again postponed Jimmy Lai’s trial on national security charges, likely delaying it to December from September. The imprisoned publisher of the shuttered Apple Daily newspaper was previously scheduled to be tried in December 2022. The latest postponement is a serious blow for the nearly 76-year-old Lai, who has been prison for nearly three years.

Burmese democracy leader Lin Htet Naing, who goes by the name James, emerged from several months of hiding in June 2022, stepping out with one of his two small sons in Rangoon, Burma’s former capital and commercial center. A short while later, James’s wife, Phyoe Phyoe Aung, also a prominent democracy leader, received a phone call telling her James had been arrested.

Hong Kong businessman Jimmy Lai has been in jail since he was charged with “foreign collusion” after a raid by the Chinese government on pro-democracy Apple Daily publication in August 2020.

The first round of Guatemala’s general elections on June 25 has focused attention on the fate of dozens of prosecutors and judges who have been targeted by their own government for trying to end pervasive corruption.  

Cuban rapper Maykel Castillo Perez's uncompromising work unites Cubans and exposes the myths of the 1959 revolution and its more than six decades of repression.

Vladimir Kara-Murza was recently sentenced to 25 years in a Russian penal colony for his criticism of Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Bush Institute continues to speak out against Kara-Murza's unjust detention and advocate for his freedom.    

An update on Ihar Losik, a jailed Belarusian blogger and contributor to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Popular Belarusian blogger Ihar Losik was taken as a political prisoner and sentenced to 15 years in jail in an ongoing effort by the Lukashenka regime to silence opponents and neutralize the digital media.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a pro-democracy Russian politician, was charged with high treason on Oct. 6. Russian authorities briefed Kara-Murza on the indictment in prison, where he has been detained since April on less severe charges.

When protests spread throughout Iran last September after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young, Kurdish Iranian woman arrested and beaten for improperly wearing her headscarf, Narges Mohammadi reported on the regime’s crackdown from a unique vantage point: Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

Sardar Pashaei is a Kurdish human rights activist, former world wrestling champion, and President of Hiwa, a U.S.-based organization advocating for a democratic and secular Iran.

A former national team coach, he was banned from international competition due to his Kurdish background and political views, and later forced to flee Iran. His activism has come at a personal cost, with members of his family arrested and tortured by Iranian authorities.

Today, he leads international advocacy efforts focused on human rights, ethnic and minority rights, and political repression in Iran. His work also highlights how the Islamic Republic uses sport as a tool of control and propaganda.

He works with policymakers, media, and civil society to advance accountability and support a democratic future for Iran. His advocacy has been featured by major outlets including BBC, CNN, and Fox News.

With our Struggle for Freedom series, we will ensure that their stories and names are known and that their fight for justice can be shared with many.