Human Rights

Just Security’s expert authors offer in-depth analysis on critical human rights challenges, including those related to armed conflict, emerging technologies, abuses by authoritarian governments, repression of human rights advocates and independent media, human rights litigation, racial justice, gender equality, and more.

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3,055 Articles

The Meaning of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Germany v. Philipp

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court decided Germany v. Philipp, a Holocaust expropriation case brought under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Writing for a unanimous Court,…
Ethiopian Army soldiers stand as a pick-up truck with militia men passes by at Mai Aini Refugee camp, in Ethiopia, on January 30, 2021. Children sit under a tree behind the soldiers.

Five Steps the Biden Administration Needs to Take on the Crisis in Tigray

The Biden administration will need to move quickly to avoid further devastation in Tigray.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with newly sworn in Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas before signing several executive orders directing immigration actions for his administration in the Oval Office at the White House on February 02, 2021 in Washington, DC. Both wear face masks and Mayorkas stands approximately six feet away from the desk President Biden sits at.

Biden’s Asylum EOs and Where to Go from Here

Biden's asylum executive orders are laudable in many respects, but more work is needed to fix an asylum system that was broken well before Trump took office.
Sri Lankan journalist C.A Chandraprema gives a copy of 'Gota's War' to Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse as defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa looks on during the launch of the book 'Gota's War' in Colombo on May 14, 2012.

Sri Lanka’s UN Efforts to Stave Off Justice for War Crimes

The Rajapaksa government has gone so far as to install someone allegedly associated with a death squad on the Human Rights Council.
Prosthetic legs are stacked against a wall with a mirror in the therapy room at the ICRC Orthopedic Center on October 1 2019 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Some of the prosthetics wear sandals or sneakers and others are barefoot.

The Progress Not Made on Protecting Civilians  

I was recently asked to reflect on the progress the United States has made on civilian protection after two decades of war and counterterrorism operations since 9/11. I got down…
Local elderly residents take shelter in the basement of an undisclosed church on October 12, 2020 in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. Boxes and blankets are placed in piles on the floor and there are a few chairs and benches on which people sit. A person walks past the camera using a walking cane.

Power Politics Obstructs Protection of Civilians in — and After — the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict

Five measures that Azerbaijan and Armenia, along with Russia, Turkey, and the international community must take now to improve conditions.
Georgian families visit the remains of their homes that were bombed by Russian aircraft August 28, 2008 in Gori, Georgia. Debris litters the floor. Buildings are missing walls and ceilings appear to be collapsing.

Georgia v. Russia: Jurisdiction, Chaos and Conflict at the European Court of Human Rights

A troubling decision by the European Court of Human Rights on its power to adjudicate alleged rights violations related to armed conflict.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield appears before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on her nomination to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on January 27, 2021.

Biden’s UN Nominee Thomas-Greenfield Awaits Vote After Questioning on China, Iran, Israel and More

As President Joe Biden prepares for his first major foreign policy speech in office this week, his nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, awaits…
Relatives and friends hold photos of their missing loved ones at Galle Face promenade in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo on August 28, 2018.

Spotlight on Sri Lanka as UN Human Rights Council Prepares Next Session

Concerns over impunity and a troubling decline in human rights will be prominent, with a long-awaited report by the UN high commissioner for human rights.
Soldiers in action during a drill on day three of the China-Russia counter-terrorist Cooperation-2017 on December 5, 2017 in Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. They hold guns and speak in a circle.

Violent Extremism and the Governance Challenge

Revisiting "Human rights impact of policies and practices aimed at preventing and countering violent extremism," a recent assessment of the P/CVE field released last year at the…
Female Israeli and Palestinian members of the "Parents Circle Families Forum" association, an organisation made up of more than 600 families who have seen a family member die in the conflict, destroy a symbolic wall representing the Israeli security barrier that runs through the occupied West Bank, in Beit Jala near the biblical town of Bethlehem, on March 10, 2017.

New Aid for Israeli-Palestinian Peacebuilding Aims at Issues Underlying Security

The Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act provides an unprecedented $250 million over five years for economic and people-to-people projects.
Family members and relatives take part in the funeral procession of Afghan journalist Rahmatullah Nekzad at Khoja Omari district of Ghazni province, on December 22, 2020. The group appears to walk uphill and fills the span of the block.

Unprecedented Threats to Journalists & Civil Society Activists Are Threatening Afghanistan

Who benefits from the killing of journalists, human rights activists, and civil society members in Afghanistan? What purposes could it serve and for whom?
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