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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3,056 Articles
Razor wire lines in front of the US flag at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Guantanamo’s Ugly Taint on U.S. Diplomacy

Watching the Guantanamo proceedings from behind the courtroom's safety glass brings to mind a different prison, halfway around the world, in Egypt.
The damaged interior of the hospital in which the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical charity operated is seen on October 13, 2015 following an air strike in the northern city of Kunduz.

Why the US Military Needs to Rethink How It Investigates Civilian Harm

A new report analyzed a total of 228 investigations into reported civilian harm in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria between 2002 and 2015.
Sudan's deposed military ruler Omar al-Bashir stands in a defendant's cage during the opening of his corruption trial in Khartoum on August 19, 2019.

Sudan Announces Intention to Have al-Bashir and Others “Appear” Before the ICC

Sudan's transitional government said al-Bashir and others indicted by the ICC for atrocities in Darfur must "appear" before the Court, but whether extraditions will occur remains…
Student protesters call for a strike as they gather during an anti-government demonstration in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah in Dhi Qar province on February 8, 2020.

As ISIS Regroups, No Time to Cut U.S., U.N. Assistance to Iraq

Iraq is teetering, and the U.S. presence is uncertain. All the more reason to retain the kinds of U.N. and other civilian programs that prevent backsliding.
Central American immigrants walk between a newly built Bollard-style border fence and the older "legacy" fence after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on February 01, 2019 in El Paso, Texas.

Building Walls and Deporting People to “Safe” Countries Is Not Deterrence, It’s Defense

Labeling highly militarized, defense-based policies as forms of migration “deterrence” masks their true nature.
Two girls sit in a north Tehran coffee shop using Facebook on a laptop and looking at a mobile phone on October 13, 2013.

Instagram Content Removals in Iran Highlight Questions Over Facebook’s New Oversight Board

Facebook’s recent release of the bylaws for its new Oversight Board, which will be charged with reviewing takedown decisions by Facebook and Instagram, came on the heels of reports…
A wide view of the Security Council as Ghassan Salamé (on screen), Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), briefs the Council meeting on the situation in Libya. 30 January 2020

National Security at the United Nations This Past Week

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,…
Pro-democracy protesters are pinned on the ground by police during a demonstration in Wan Chai district on October 6, 2019 in Hong Kong, China. Police wear full riot gear including gas masks.

The Use of Regional Jurisprudence in UN Draft General Comment on the Freedom of Assembly

Editor’s note from Ryan Goodman: Just Security is publishing a mini-forum on a significant document being drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee concerning the…
Two refugees, a Honduran child and her mother, sit on the ground of the border bridge after being denied entry from Mexico into the U.S. on June 25, 2018 in Brownsville, Texas. The mother covers her face and the child with her sweater, and two border agents lean against a wall in the background.

Never Mind “America First” — Trump’s Newly Expanded Immigration Ban Puts Americans Last

Nationality-based restrictions will separate families and are the wrong tool to promote public safety and national security.
Egyptian police wave batons at demonstrators demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak and calling for reforms on January 25, 2011 in central Cairo.

Crossing the Line from Use of Force to Torture in Response to Peaceful Demonstrations

Editor’s note from Ryan Goodman: Just Security is publishing a mini-forum on a significant document being drafted by the United Nations Human Rights Committee concerning the…
Central American migrants -mostly Hondurans- are blocked by Mexican police forces in full riot gear as they reach the El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, on November 25, 2018.

The “Virtual Wall”: Mexico, Part 1

The Trump administration has established its wall on the U.S.- Mexico border without putting one brick in place.
A man takes part in a protest against the walkover victory of Halimah Yacob as Singapore's President at Hong Lim Park in Singapore on September 16, 2017. He wears tape over his mouth and another over his chest, both reading, “Not my president.”

The Draft General Comment on Freedom of Assembly: Might Less Be More?

Former member of the UN Human Rights Committee, Harvard's Gerald Neuman, critically analyzes the Committee's draft document on peaceful assembly.
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