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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3,153 Articles
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris arrive to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on January 20, 2021. They wear masks and have a military escort.

How the Biden-Harris Administration Can Advance Peace & Freedom – At Home and Abroad

Five clear steps the Biden-Harris administration can take to promote human dignity around the globe.
Nobel peace laureate Leymah Gbowee, head of the Women in Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), stands in front of a sign calling for peaceful elections in Monrovia on October 5, 2017. The sign reads, Don’t Touch Our Peace.”

Biden Needs a Foreign Policy Focused on Sustainable Peace

War and weapons cannot solve today’s most urgent challenges. They require peacebuilding, diplomacy, and conflict-sensitive development.
French Jihadist Melina Boughedir carries her son as she arrives to court in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on February 19, 2018. She walks into a wooden caged area.

Families in the Crosshairs of National Security

Families are being affirmed in public policy while simultaneously being targeted in security practice.
Families of victims and rights activists demonstrate outside Sri Lanka's main prison, demanding justice for the 27 inmates shot dead by security forces in 2012, in Colombo on September 12, 2017.

Emblematic Cases Expose the Long Road to Justice in Sri Lanka

For more than a decade, in one atrocity case after another, justice is delayed, denied, or even reversed, as the government pursues impunity.
A Sri Lankan demonstrator holds a portrait of a missing relative during a protest outside the United Nations office in Colombo on March 13, 2013.

Tamils – and Justice – Can’t Wait: The Need for Decisive UN Action on Sri Lanka

The credibility of the Human Rights Council and the UN system, given its “grave failure” in the past, depends on accountability for Sri Lanka’s atrocities.
A man browses Facebook on his smart phone after the mobile internet went back online in Kampala, Uganda, on January 18, 2021. He stands next to a stack of tires.

Oversight Board’s First Rulings Show Facebook’s Rules Are a Mess

The company’s inability to enact a clear, consistent, transparent content-moderation policy may lead the board to overturn the decision to bar Trump.
People walk along the streets near the remains of burned homes after Hurricane Sandy on October 31, 2012 in the Breezy Point neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Nearly all the homes in the photo covering three of four blocks have been destroyed, and all that can been seen is the building foundations and debris.

As Biden Seeks Answers on Climate’s Impact on Migration, Sydney Declaration Provides Legal Ground Rules for Action

As the United States embarks on its own analysis of displacement and migration in the context of climate change, the Sydney Declaration provides the legal ground rules for action.
Egyptian military officers talk with Saudi men at the Saudi stand during Egypt’s first Service Defence Exhibition in Cairo on December 3, 2018, at the International Exhibition Center. Armored military vehicles are on display in the room they speak in.

A US Return to Human Rights Requires Consistency and Self-Restraint in National Security

This week's Egypt arms sales announcement illustrates the failure to practice the values that offer the US its principle source of competitive advantage.
Workers extinguish flames at a warehouse, after it was reportedly hit in an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition, in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on July, 2, 2020.

Fulfilling Biden Campaign Pledge on Saudi-UAE Policy Will Require a Full Overhaul

Regular and direct US criticism of Saudi and UAE human rights abuses should be a fundamental part of a Biden administration reassessment.
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa addresses the nation as Airforce Chief Sumangala Dias, Army Chief Shavendra Silva, Navy Chief Piyal De Silva look on during the Sri Lanka's 72nd Independence Day celebrations in Colombo on February 4, 2020.

US Can Restore Leadership on Human Rights by Promoting Accountability in Sri Lanka

The Biden administration should press the UN Human Rights Council for action and impose its own measures, including further sanctions.
Former Vice President, Joe Biden, addresses the audience at the We Decide: Planned Parenthood Action Fund 2020 Election Forum to Focus on Abortion and Reproductive Rights event in Columbia, SC on June, 22 2019.

Now is the Time for the Biden Administration to Commit to Upholding Reproductive Rights as Human Rights

The US has an opportunity to renew its commitment to human rights as it responds to UPR suggestions. It must seize the moment to affirm that reproductive and sexual rights are…
Journalists and well-wishers light candles on the grave of slain anti-establishment editor Lasantha Wickrematunge on his 12th death anniversary, in Colombo on January 8, 2021.

Escalating Attacks on Journalists in Sri Lanka Demand New Tack from Human Rights Council

The continuing impunity in the wartime killing of a revered editor and the recent escalation of rights abuses expose the government's recalcitrance.
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