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.
3,072 Articles
The Self-Defeating Executive Order Against the International Criminal Court
"I know because I used to make this theoretical international law argument...on behalf of the U.S. Government many years ago."
Ali Kushayb’s Arrest Highlights the Other Side of the U.S.–ICC Relationship
There has been a lot happening over the past couple of weeks, at home and abroad. So it would have been easy to miss the news that earlier this week, Ali Kushayb, a Sudanese war…
National Security at the United Nations This Week (June 5-12)
(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,…
The Supreme Court’s Insidious Development of Qualified Immunity
The American policing and criminal justice system is a complex machine, soldered together from a variety of tools and tactics of oppression. By purpose, design, and effect, the…
Accused Gambian Torturer Arrested in Denver
The United States has leveled federal torture charges against Michael Correa, an alleged Gambian torturer found living in Denver (see Just Security’s prior coverage calling for…
At Confederate-Named Army Bases, Highlight US Ideals By Renaming Them for Honorable Figures
The facilities should be named after accomplished figures who represent the diversity that makes the country and the Army strong. And there are plenty.
Researchers on Atrocity Prevention Warn: US on Path to Widespread Political Violence
The United States remains on the precipice of widespread human rights violations against its own civilian population. As scholars of armed conflict and human rights with a combined…
International Standards Regarding the Handling of Demonstrations
Just as much as nauseating scenes of excessive use of force by the police captured by media and citizens’ smartphones fly in the face of the protections that should be afforded…
![A collage of tweets and statements. The first statement by Mike Mullen, Seventeenth chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff reads on June 2, 2020, “I cannot remain silent. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy.” A tweet from Admiral Mike Franken, no date, reads, “I’m a retired three-star admiral running for United States Senate in Iowa. The military is a tool of last resort to defend our nation. It is not a weapon to use against our citizens or our states.” A tweet from Tony Thomas on June 1, 2020 reads, “The ‘battle space’ of America??? Not what America needs to hear…ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a constitutional failure…ie a Civil War…” A tweet from retired General Martin E. Dempsey, no date, reads, “America’s military, our sons and daughters, will place themselves at risk to protect their fellow citizens. Their job is unimaginably hard overseas; harder at home. Respect them, for they respect you. America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy. #BeBetter” A tweet from General Michael Hayden, no date, reads, “I was appalled to see him in his battle dress. Mi [cut off] a general?!?) should not have walked over to th [cut off] with Trump.” A tweet from Mark Hertling reads, “’Dominating the battle space,’ democratic values.” A tweet from Berry R McCaffrey on June 1, 2020 reads, “On MSNBC. Monday. 1 June. 11 pm ET. Brian Williams. Trump and the Insurrection Act. The murder of George Floyd by a police officer was the spark that detonated the anger at injustice. Using military forces other than Nat Guard would be inflammatory.” A tweet by @stavridisj, no date, reads, “American tradition says the use of active duty [cut off] to quell domestic disputes should be absol [cut off] resort and done at the request of not over the [cut off] objection of governors. I agree with that – th [cut off] role for the National Guard not active duty.” The last statement comes from an article by Jeffrey Goldberg and reads, “James Mattis denounces President Trump, describes him as threat to the Constitution. In an extraordinary condemnation, the former defense secretary [cut off] protestors and says the president is trying to turn Americans against [cut off] another.”](https://i0.wp.com/www.justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Mattis-collage.jpg?fit=1024%2C483&ssl=1)
The Generals’ Constitution
When retired senior military officers “break ranks” to publicly criticize current political affairs, they often invoke a defense of the Constitution. In light of their oaths…
The Untold Power of Bill Barr to Direct US Military Forces in Case of “Civil Unrest”
Whether deployed against protests for racial justice or deployed to interfere with free and fair elections in November, the US military operations would be led by Bill Barr, not…
What Does the Constitutional Right of Assembly Protect? What Counts as “Peaceable”? And Who Should Decide?
Municipal rules governing access to public space and existing criminal law significantly circumscribe protestors’ expressive freedom, especially their right to be disruptive.
New Complicity Charges Filed in the Killing of George Floyd
UPDATED As millions of people take to the streets demanding racial justice, accountability for police violence, and the demilitarization of the police, the case against the ex-police…