Freemuse joins other international human rights and cultural organisations to express deep concern over the deteriorating human rights landscape in the United Republic of Tanzania and its direct, stifling impact on the creative sector.

Webinar: Human Rights and the Production of Disaggregated Data on Roma
22 September 4:00 PM (CET)
Language: English and Spanish
This webinar aims to strengthen efforts to generate and use disaggregated data on human rights and Roma communities.
Agenda, register and background at tinyurl.com/y97mbea7

One year ago, Chinese artist and U.S. resident Gao Zhen was detained in Hebei, China. He remains in prison without trial, his health failing, his family silenced. Freemuse joins sixteen other rights organisations to demand his immediate release.

See the joint statement here:
hrf.org/latest/joint...

Cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu acquitted after a 5-year obscenity trial. In conversation with Freemuse’s Özlem Altunok, Ömeroğlu discusses censorship, political humour, and the pressures faced by women artists in Türkiye.

Read her full interview here: www.freemuse.org/cartoonist-z...

At the UN Human Rights Council on 1 July, Iran rejected over half of 346 UPR recommendations. Repression has deepened since the Israel war, with arrests and internet crackdowns. Artist Reza Daryakenari and rapper Toomaj Salehi face harsh charges.
www.freemuse.org/irans-repres...

Sub-Saharan Africa Region: Show Respect! "Be decent. Don’t criticise. Don’t protest."
By Lisa Sidambe

www.freemuse.org/state-of-art...

Freemuse is pleased to share the news that cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu has been acquitted today. She had been on trial in Türkiye for more than four years on charges of "obscenity" related to her cartoon titled "Sex in the Pandemic," which was published in Leman magazine in November 2020.

Freemuse’s State of Artistic Freedom 2025 report is out. Across the globe, artists are being silenced, through arrest, threats, and censorship and self-censorship is rising. The report reveals an alarming trend in political repression and moral policing in 2024. www.freemuse.org/state-of-art...

Freemuse is pleased to share the news of Iranian filmmaker Navid Mihandoust, who was pardoned on 31 March, after spending over a year in prison. His release is a strong reminder of the ongoing fight for artistic freedom and the urgent need to defend creative voices under threat. #navidmihandoust

What happens when artists censor themselves? Listen to Freemuse Director Sverre Pedersen's pod cast for Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa) where he explains all.
🎙https://www.ifa.de/.../silencing-creativity-self...

Colombia's conflict rages on despite the 2016 peace deal between FARC and the government. In Cauca, artists face threats, attacks, and even murder from armed groups. Recent victims include Edgar Victoria Segura, Andrés Erazo, and singer Dávinson Gaviria. Read more: www.cadal.org/publications...

Freemuse shares the concerns of our colleagues at the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR) about the upcoming trial of Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha.
www.icfr.international/cases/clear-...