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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Empty UN Security Council chamber.

Mexico’s Priorities as an Elected Member to the Security Council for 2021-2022

In this essay for Just Security, the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations and Mexico’s Legal Adviser outline the government’s priorities when it becomes…
Activists in orange jumpsuits and black hoods gather in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles, California for a demonstration marking the 17th anniversary of the opening of the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.

IACHR Condemns Guantánamo Abuses in First “War on Terror” Decision

On May 27, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a long-awaited decision in which it held the United States internationally responsible for the torture and…
A veiled woman walks with her child at al-Hol camp in al-Hasakeh governorate in northeastern Syria on February 17, 2019.

Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Child Returnees from ISIS

After the collapse of the self-styled Islamic State militant group (ISIS), many people were left homeless and stateless in refugee camps in Syria and Iraq. Nearly 49,000 children…
Three people check Facebook over tea and food at a teashop in Yangon, Myanmar.

Gambia v. Facebook: What the Discovery Request Reveals about Facebook’s Content Moderation

A review of Facebook’s past content decisions in Myanmar can guide assessments of when the public interest value of election-related content breaches the threshold of harm. Knowing…
Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam is seen on a giant screen remotely addressing the opening of the UN Human Rights Council's 44th session on June 30, 2020 in Geneva.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (June 26-July 2)

(Editor’s Note: This is the latest in Just Security’s weekly series keeping readers up to date on developments at the United Nations at the intersection of national security,…
Police officers pepper spray people next to the Colorado State Capitol as protests against the death of George Floyd continue for a third night on May 30, 2020 in Denver, Colorado.

Less Lethal than Firearms, But Only if Used Appropriately

Sometimes, as in the shooting of Rayshard Brooks by an Atlanta law enforcement officer, deaths involve police use of firearms. But as the killing of George Floyd has also demonstrated,…
Protestors are tear gassed as the police disperse them near the White House on June 1, 2020.

It’s Time to Stop the Use of Tear Gas Against Civilians

It was a clear day on June 1 in Washington, DC when thousands of people protesting racial injustice and police brutality, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, congregated…
Three people in a CIA recruitment ad.

The CIA’s Long and Winding Road to Diversity

The agency's new ad campaign features actors for a reason: it bears little resemblance to the makeup of the workforce, much less leadership.
Left Photo: Syrian defendants Anwar Raslan (L), 57, and Eyad al-Gharib (R), 43, wait in the courtroom before the start of an unprecedented trial on state-sponsored torture in Syria, on April 23, 2020 at court in Koblenz, western Germany. Right Photo: German military in Afghanistan commander Colonel Georg Klein giving an interview to AFP on the September 4, 2009 airstrike carried out by NATO.

A Tale of German Global Criminal Justice: A TWAIL Perspective on the Syrian Torture Trial

A trial against Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al Gharib, two suspected (former) members of President Bashar al-Assad’s security services, began before the Higher Courts in Koblenz, Germany,…
A man attends a protest rally organized by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on June 28, 2018 in font of Agora in Montpellier, southern France, against the performance of Israeli Batsheva Dance Company at the Montpellier Dance Festival.

Freedom of Expression and Political Controversy: The ECtHR’s BDS Judgment

In its June 11 Baldassi et al v. France judgment (French original not yet translated), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confirmed and reinforced the fundamental right…
A garden around a makeshift memorial to George Floyd, built by a nonprofit youth empowerment group, is pictured near the site where he died in police custody, in Minneapolis, Minnesota on June 17, 2020.

Transitional Justice, Race, and the United States

As a scholar of transitional justice, I am heartened by efforts to de-exceptionalize the United States and to bring race and anti-Black racism into conversation with international…
Fort Bragg Air Assault School

Decoy Amendment Jeopardizes the Moment for Renaming Confederate-Dubbed Bases

The measure would undermine otherwise bipartisan efforts to address these issues, including several worthy alternative proposals.
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