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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3,215 Articles
Internally Displaced People, fleeing from violence in the Metekel zone in Western Ethiopia, walk on a route as others stand below in a camp in Chagni, Ethiopia, on January 28, 2021.

Ethiopia, Take a Lesson from Sudan and Stop the War in Tigray

Ethiopia need only look to Sudan to realize what’s at stake for the country and its people and to understand the consequences of history repeating itself.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, new Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, speaks to reporters after meeting with Secretary-General António Guterres.

Is There a New Era for Human Rights on the Horizon?

There are some hints that it could be a new day for human rights in the United States, but there are also some troubling signs that a return to status quo is also possible under…
International Red Cross and Red Crescent workers keep watch at an airport in the southern city of Aden, the interim seat of the Yemeni government, on October 16, 2020, as the war-torn country began swapping 1,000 prisoners in a complex operation overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Fixing “Material Support” — Lessons from the Houthi Terror Designation

Reversing the Trump administration's disastrous designation was a good first step - but the US must address fundamental flaws in the material support statutes to ensure continued…
Members of the persecuted Ahmadiyya community listen to the sermon during Friday prayers at the Garhi Shahu mosque on July 16, 2010 in Lahore, Pakistan. One person looks over their shoulder and directly at the camera.

Biden Must Press Pakistan to End Persecution of Religious Minorities

Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan have been persecuted for decades. Now, Pakistan has brought suit against Ahmadi US citizens. The Biden administration must push back.
Two side by side photographs. The first shows China's President Xi Jinping shaking hands with Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman. The second shows Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic and China’s President Xi Jinping walking side by side. Both images have the corresponding country flags lined in a row behind them.

The Noxious Nexus of Money and Politics Takes Another Turn in Central and Southeastern Europe

A Forbes-listed billionaire’s China-fueled deals illustrate the potential security threats of media and telecom capture by authoritarians.
Michael Fisher Sr. lifts his son, Michael Fisher Jr., to dunk a basketball near the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue on January 15, 2021 in Richmond, Virginia. Art work, graffiti and memorials cover the racist statue and take a stand against racial injustice.

Turtle Island Project: Prose Meets Policy for Stronger U.S. National Security

For too long, America has told only a narrow slice of its national story through its public monuments, memorials, and museums. Adom Cooper argues it's time to tell a bigger story.…
Saudi-backed government troops repel a Huthi rebel offensive on oil-rich Marib, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa, on February 14, 2021. The photo shows one vehicle with a large weapon passing a person running away. The vehicle kicks up a lot of dust causing low visibility.

The Fight for Marib Threatens Millions of Lives in Yemen

Today, one of the most alarming, and under-appreciated, humanitarian issues in Yemen is the escalation of conflict in the governorate of Marib.
Farmers in India protest against new harmful farming laws while Indian paramilitary soldiers watch them behind barricades on December 13, 2020 at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghaziabad, India.

In India, US Defense Secretary Austin Must Not Overlook Its Democratic Decline

The Indian government’s pattern of repressive actions could undermine its value as a strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region.
Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapakse and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, neither who wear face masks, are surrounded by others, many who wear face masks, as they leave the new cabinet swearing-in ceremony at the Buddhist Temple of the Tooth in the ancient hill capital of Kandy, some 116 km from Colombo on August 12, 2020.

When War Criminals Run the Government: Not Too Late for the International Community to Vet Sri Lankan Officials

Developing such a list of individuals would signal to survivors some measure of recognition of the atrocities they have suffered.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jim Bolger and Queen Elizabeth II, wearing a traditional Maori cloak of Kiwi feathers chat with Maori Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu after the signing of the Tainui Settlement Bill at Government House in Wellington 03 November.

It’s Never Too Late to Say “I’m Sorry”: Sovereign Apologies Over the Years

What does it mean for a State to apologize for its harmful policies, violations, or mistakes? What distinguishes a genuine apology from a hollow one? An analysis and catalogue…
A woman clad in mask due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, sits outside a tent near a water cistern at Camp Roj, housing family members of people accused to belong to the Islamic State (IS) group who were relocated from al-Hol camp, in the countryside near al-Malikiyah (Derik) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 30, 2020.

When Terrorists Traffic Their Recruits

A full reckoning with ISIS' exploitation requires overcoming politics to understand when someone might be at once a victim and a perpetrator.
People pay tribute by laying flowers and lighting candles next to dried blood at the spot where Chit Min Thu, 25, was killed in clashes on March 11, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Bricks are laid among the flowers and a few people wear or carry hard hats. Everyone wears face maks.

National Security Last Week at the United Nations (March 5-12)

Military in Myanmar Continues Mistreatment of Peaceful Protesters On March 8, 2021, hundreds of peaceful protesters were trapped by security forces for several hours in Sanchaung.…
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