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.
3,051 Articles

Beyond Law: When States Use Ethics to Excuse War Crimes
Until distorted ethical narratives are challenged, powerful states will continue to commit war crimes with impunity.

Abu Ghraib Torture Survivors’ Landmark Win Gives Hope for Alien Tort Statute Cases
The Al Shirmari verdict may help other plaintiffs chart a path to navigate the Supreme Court’s constraints on Alien Tort Statute cases.

Early Warning in Atrocity Scenarios Must Account for the Effects of Technology, Good or Bad
Atrocity-prevention systems developed before the spread of new technologies need to more systematically account for their impacts.

Thinking Beyond Risks: A Symposium on Tech and Atrocity Prevention
Governments and civil society can harness new and established technologies, even while proactively mitigating associated risks.

Progress on Gender Justice Continues as States Consider Next Steps on Draft Crimes Against Humanity Treaty
This fall, a number of States expressed support for the inclusion of various gender justice proposals in a potential future treaty.

How Much (or How Little) Does the Biden Administration Want Justice in the 9/11 Case?
Secretary of Defense Austin's actions to reverse a plea deal for three defendants at Guantanamo may further jeopardize the prosecution's case.

Days, Not Weeks: Gaza, Starvation, and the Imperative to Act Now
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has sharpened third states’ obligation to use their leverage now to reverse the trajectory, writes Dannenbaum.

In ICJ Advisory Opinion on Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Separate Opinions Obscure Legal Rationale
The Advisory Opinion marks an important development in international law. It is therefore disappointing that this development occurs ex cathedra and in a manner that reveals so…

Do Sanctions Work? It Depends. Burma and the West Bank Might Be Models.
The question shifts the focus from the far more critical issues of whether policy goals are clear and realistic and if sanctions can help.

Sanctioning Human Trafficking Under the Global Magnitsky Program
This latest set of sanctions is a promising development, particularly as the State Department signaled its intent to prioritize using the Global Magnitsky program to address forced…

What’s to Stop Algorithm-Driven Recruiters From Rejecting Able Federal Workers With Neuro-Divergent Disabilities?
The U.S. government has bought AI-assisted recruiting aids, which tend to "screen out" those with developmental or learning disabilities.

Assessing Amnesties and Re-assimilation in Northeast Syria
Using amnesties, trials, and “parole boards” for detainees in northeast Syria would be consistent with the requirements of international law.