President & CEO Remarks: 2025 Awards Celebration

October 14, 2025 – Gotham Hall – New York, NY

Good evening and welcome. It’s electrifying to be here with so many friends, supporters, and allies in one room. Thank you for joining us, and special thanks to our Champion Supporters, Humanitas Media and Pyrra, our all-star Board, and welcome to our newest Board member – Mike Posner, who joined the Board today and whom some of you might have met before! 

For those of you I haven’t had a chance to meet yet, Hello! I am Uzra Zeya, Human Rights First’s new President and CEO.

I took on this role of a lifetime last April, after having fought for decades to advance and defend universal human rights internationally as an American diplomat. From launching global partnerships to defend LGBTQI+ equality, to building a pipeline to relocate over 200,000 Afghans to the United States after the Taliban takeover, to rebuilding a decimated U.S. refugee admissions program to reach a 21st century resettlement peak, I’ve seen what’s possible when policymakers, civil society, and diverse stakeholders unite behind ambitious rights goals. 

And I also know that, even in the best of times, the U.S. government needs robust civil society activism, embodied by this storied organization, to hold its feet to the fire to do the right thing. 

But these are NOT the best of times. This is a moment when the authoritarian playbook I spent decades fighting overseas, has come home to our shores. And it’s on steroids.

You’ve seen it. Weaponization of government institutions to consolidate power, target perceived enemies, and enrich cronies. Vilification of the vulnerable – be it immigrants, trans people, people of color or persons with disabilities. Militarization of our cities, with New York looming large on the target list.  Bullying and harassment of universities, law firms, and media companies, alongside targeting of rights advocates, the International Criminal Court, and philanthropic organizations – all for the exercise of their First Amendment rights.   

Never has Human Rights First’s mission been more at risk, and never has it been more important.  And the urgency of this moment is why tonight’s gathering is so important.  Human Rights First is all-in for the fight, but we can’t do it alone or simply by preaching to the choir.   

We know this, because everybody has human rights. 

Let me say this another way:  Human rights are for everybody.

So if we are going to rise to meet the moment–defeat authoritarianism, uphold the rule of law and protect the American way of life–we need everybody to be in the fight for human rights.

Inspired by this evening’s honorees, we are working to strengthen solidarity. To make sure that human rights advocacy is a big tent–where we welcome everybody who is willing to stand up for basic freedoms to join us in the fight. 

And working with everyone in this room to make that a reality–well, that certainly is the opportunity  of a lifetime. 

So what does it mean to say that human rights are for everybody, and what does that look like? 

At Human Rights First, we see three urgent, overlapping imperatives.

1. Defend the vulnerable.
2. Protect democracy.
3. Step up and lead on international human rights as the United States steps back.

And we’re doing all three by doubling down on our well-honed legal prowess, ability to unite unlikely allies, and bias towards innovation.

Defending the vulnerable:

Right now, in the United States, immigrants and refugees are bearing the brunt of the administration’s illegal power grab. Masked federal police have forced immigrants into unmarked vans. Arrested students for thought crimes. Separated families. Detained them in deplorable conditions, disappeared them, and flown them in shackles to dangerous destinations unknown to them. 

It’s no time for business as usual. This is why we’re catalyzing a rapid response model that integrates our powerhouse refugee representation, policy advocacy, and litigation efforts with the cutting-edge work of our Innovation Lab.    

We’re leaning in on strategic litigation, having more than quadrupled in-house capacity this year, thanks to the generosity of champions like Tracy Aanenson, Matthew Dontzin, and Tom Bernstein. We have taken the Trump administration to court to stop third country transfers without due process to war-torn countries like Libya and South Sudan and notorious torture centers like El Salvador’s CECOT prison. 

We’ve sued to protect over a half million people granted humanitarian parole who face dire risks if forcibly returned to Haiti, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Cuba, Venezuela, or Nicaragua.  

We’ve documented abuses in U.S.  immigration detention facilities. And we’ve accompanied members of Congress as they demand access to those facilities to exercise oversight. 

And speaking of oversight, we’ve been so fortunate to take the baton from Tom Cartwright, one of tonight’s honorees, and continue his pioneering work tracking ICE deportation flights.  HRF’s new ICE Flight Monitor brings transparency to hidden detention and enforcement operations. Tom’s example, as a retired finance exec who volunteered his time to build this methodology from scratch, reminds us of what is possible when everybody is for human rights and how it is up to each of us to protect our democracy. 

So many of you in this room are also the human rights champions rising to meet this moment. With your help we continue to represent survivors of persecution. From enduring Kremlin chemical weapons attacks targeting their political activism, to facing death threats for whom they love or how they worship, to defying the will of MS-13 and other abusive thugs, our clients’ courage and resilience are inspirational.  And with your help and in spite of the odds stacked against our clients, we continue to WIN these asylum cases at a success rate above 90%. 

Later tonight, we will recognize our Marvin E. Frankel award winner and celebrate that lawyers are still standing beside refugees–even when cases are more challenging than before. When it feels risky. 

When it’s needed more than ever. 

But connecting with a lawyer is all the more difficult in today’s scorched earth environment.  That’s where our Innovation Lab’s new app ReadyNow! comes in – by giving individuals at risk of ICE arrest ability to send emergency notifications with one click. Users have peace of mind to ensure their kids are picked up from school, loved ones know where they are, and that a lawyer can help them in the event the worst happens.

Defend democracy:

As I’ve seen elsewhere in the world, anti-immigrant overreach connects to a broader, ongoing assault on our democracy, as every would-be autocrat needs an enemy to scapegoat.  

But in this country we still have the freedom to speak and assemble. And so, we successfully blocked the Trump administration from arresting and detaining a Columbia University student who followed her conscience to attend peaceful demonstrations.  

We continue to partner with veterans who share our belief that service is about an oath to the Constitution–not to any one man. And we are recharging partnership with retired military leaders which secured bipartisan policy wins against torture over decade ago.  This time it’s an even bigger battle, to protect against misuse of our military for anti-democratic ends, that requires an even bigger tent.  This is where HRF’s ability to build broad-based coalitions with unlikely allies comes to the fore.  

In partnership with our allies, we’re campaigning against efforts to punish and criminalize dissent. As part of that effort, our Innovation Lab created an AI-powered tool that tracks pending legislation nationwide that would infringe on people’s rights. Because in order to protect our freedoms, we need aware and engaged citizenry. And right now we’re at over 3200 regressive bills and counting in all 50 states. 

Projecting international leadership on human rights:

Last month I was here in New York  for the UN General Assembly. Frankly, our allies–and in fact the entire international system–are still reckoning with what it means to have the United States not only disavow, but actively undermine the rights-based order that our country did so much to bolster since World War II.

So we are rebooting our playbook. Our amped-up litigation prevented the Trump administration from punishing a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court working for justice for Darfur – a concrete step toward preserving the ability of that institution to act against impunity.  

The lead litigator on that case, HRF Special Counsel Josh Colangelo, authored a memoir – a gift to all of you tonight – on his harrowing experience representing clients at Guantanamo. His is a cautionary tale on what happens when impunity is normalized in the name of security.  

Rebooting our playbook and ending impunity also means not overrelying on one government to uphold the international human rights ecosystem.  That’s why our powerful human rights accountability coalition of 340 organizations in 50 countries pivoted to rally the UK, Canada, EU and Australia to fill the vacuum left by retreating U.S. leadership. 

That’s why we’re continuing to work with human rights defenders from  Ukraine to Syria to elevate their struggles, enable their work, and help them secure new means of support. 

It’s why we rallied 267 organizations worldwide to join us in urging UN member states to uphold human rights and humanitarian treaties under threat.  

The odds against us may seem overwhelming, but I draw inspiration from tonight’s honorees who stood up to dictators and never wavered. 

I am inspired by Evgenia and Vladimir Kara-Murza, who never stopped advocating for democracy in Russia despite Vladimir’s unjust imprisonment and multiple Kremlin attempts to poison him. 

I am inspired by Richard Gere, who never ceased championing the rights of Tibetans, and spoke human rights truths to the Chinese Communist Party from the platform of the Academy Awards and paid a price for it.  We might not all be movie stars, but standing strong for principles is within the power of all of us.

And finally, I am inspired by Cristosal, this year’s William D. Zabel awardee, named in honor of our Chair Emeritus, a fearless, lifelong champion for human rights and loyal benefactor to this organization. The same courage that young Bill showed in standing up to the KKK and segregationists in the 1950s and 60s is mirrored in Cristosal’s brave stance exposing rights abuses and pursuing justice for victims across Central America these last 25 years. 

A few years ago it was possible to think that the task ahead of us was about returning to normalcy. Restoration.  

That theory has clearly been disproven by the last 10 months, as well as the chapters of injustice that preceded it, from Guantanamo to Gaza. That’s not to say there haven’t been some positive developments as of late. We welcome the long overdue and breakthrough release of all living hostages and cessation of hostilities, as we reiterate the urgency of surging humanitarian aid, releasing all arbitrarily detained and hostage remains, and accountability for all crimes perpetrated since October 7, 2023.   

But a return to a status quo that failed so many would not be desirable even if it were possible. If we are to build a future where everybody’s human rights are truly protected, our job is nothing less than reinvention.  

Now, I can’t tell you exactly what that reinvention will look like. But here are some of the things I’ll be looking for:

• The future we want to build will be one with a thriving multi-racial democracy where we debate differences vociferously but political violence, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, racism and all forms of hate are anathema. 
• Where Constitutional rights are protected no matter what you look like, whom you love or whether or not you have friends in high places.
• Where human rights defenders hold their governments to account without reprisal–and are bolstered by a multi-stakeholder, cross-regional alliance for human rights.
• Where the anti-immigrant tide is turned, refugees are welcomed, asylum systems are modernized and resourced, and immigration enforcement is humane and grounded in law.
• Where international accountability dismantles double standards and builds guardrails to prevent tools designed to bring abusers to justice from being turned on advocates.

We may disagree about which routes to take to this destination, or how fast or far, but we can only get there together. In that spirit of solidarity, we are unveiling a branding refresh intended to uplift and bring forward more allies to step up for human rights.

So let’s get moving. Human rights are for everybody. And right now we urgently need everybody to be for human rights.  

Thank you for being with us and helping us get there.