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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A protester wearing a facemask as protection from the coronavirus takes part in a protest over the newly approved anti-terror law on July 4, 2020 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines. The protestor carries a sign reading, “Resist Terror Law! – Spark” and raises a fist in the air. Other protestors in the background also carry signs and wear face masks.

Opening Pandora’s Box: New “Threats” in the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

How should the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy respond to “new threats” of “terrorism"?
Two adults and a number of children take temporary shelter under cloth tents at a market in Mihtarlam, the capital of Laghman Province on May 24, 2021. They have been displaced due to fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces.

Afghanistan is Facing a Humanitarian Crisis. The US Must Help.

Next week’s high-level summits in Europe provide important opportunities for the international community to start planning for the coming instability in Afghanistan.
Lt. Gen. John Kimmons, U.S. Army, holds up a copy of the Army Field Manual, FM 2-22.3, Human Intelligence Collector Operations as he briefs reporters on the details of the manual in the Pentagon on Sept. 6, 2006.

The Méndez Principles: The Need to Update the Army Field Manual on Interrogation for the 21st Century

Defense Secretary Austin should convene an expert panel to ensure that methods used are informed by current science.
A Rohingya refugee family rests in a temporary shelter days after a fire burnt their home at a refugee camp in Ukhia, in the southeastern Cox's Bazar district on March 25, 2021.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: The Views of Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh

The coup seemed to dash Rohingya refugee hopes of return to Myanmar. But some feel cautious hope at newfound cross-ethnic solidarity.
A phone screen shows a statement by Trump on May 5, 2021. Another screen in the background shows an image of Trump. The statement text reads, “What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and an embarrassment to our country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before. The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process.”

For Facebook’s Sake: Getting Conversant with Human Rights

The Facebook Oversight Board decision on former President Trump has helped bring into sharper focus what international law scholars and lawyers have long understood: international…
Belarusians living in Poland and Poles supporting them hold up a placard reading 'Free Roman Protasevich' during a demonstration in front of the European Commission office in Warsaw on May 24, 2021, demanding freedom for Belarus opposition activist Roman Protasevich a day after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying the dissident journalist was diverted while in Belarusian airspace. The demonstrators wear face masks.

In Belarus, Who’s the Terrorist? Another Step in the Crackdown on Journalists

The case of Roman Protasevich is nothing more than a step – albeit unprecedented and shocking – in the incremental use by States, across the globe, of legislation to counter…
Superintendent Paul Basham, Dr Richard Stephenson, and Jane Andrews speak to the media at the Dunedin Central Police Station on May 11, 2021 in Dunedin, New Zealand.

The Méndez Principles: Emergence and Global Expansion of Non-Coercive Interviewing

Three national jurisdictions that have introduced legal and effective techniques demonstrate that change is possible and is already underway.
A boy sits among women awaiting departure during the release of another group of Syrian families from the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds suspected relatives of Islamic State (IS) group fighters, in Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria, on January 28, 2021.

Gendering the Boy Child in the Context of Counterterrorism: The Situation of Boys in Northeast Syria

Much has been written about the gender of terrorism, and counterterrorism, including by myself. In much of that writing, there is a tendency to elide “gender” analysis with…
Officials inspect the damaged Karbala airport in the Iraqi shrine city, one of the areas targeted by US military air strikes. March 13, 2020

A Legacy of Unrecognized Harm: DoD’s 2020 Civilian Casualties Report 

The Pentagon report appears to defy the congressional requirement to report on civilian casualties “that were confirmed, or reasonably suspected, to have resulted in civilian…
A guard tower is seen outside the fencing of Camp 5 at the US Military's Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on January 26, 2017.

The Méndez Principles: Science Shows Interrogation is Too Serious for Amateurs

Probing memory requires delicacy and care, because the method can change what the subject recalls -- and they wouldn't even be aware of it.
Belarusians living in Poland and Poles supporting them hold up paper planes during a demonstration in front of the European Commission office in Warsaw on May 24, 2021, demanding freedom for Belarus opposition activist Roman Protasevich a day after a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying the dissident journalist was diverted while in Belarusian airspace.

Tracking Transnational Repression: Next Steps for the State Department’s Human Rights Reports

The State Department's newest reporting on 'transnational repression' has much to offer, but also gaps, including on Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Thailand, and more.
UN Special Rapporteur for Torture Juan Mendez speaks during a press conference in Colombo on May 7, 2016.

The Méndez Principles: A New Standard for Effective Interviewing by Police and Others, While Respecting Human Rights

Former UN Rapporteur on Torture says interrogations that reject coercive and abusive methods and build rapport are necessary and achievable.
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