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.
3,174 Articles

Mapping States’ Reactions to the Syria Strikes of April 2018
Statements, Chart, and Map for every state in the world that has taken a public position on the legality and justification of strikes in Syria conducted by the US, UK, and France.

Gina Haspel Threatens Intelligence Cooperation: Yet Another Reason for Senators to Vote Her Down As CIA Director
Gina Haspel’s morally indefensible role in the CIA’s torture program makes her unqualified to be the new CIA director. What’s worse, if confirmed as CIA director, she would…

What the Senate Needs to Ask Gina Haspel
Without full declassification of her involvement in American torture and rendition programs during the George W. Bush administration, Gina Haspel’s confirmation hearing will…

The Legality of Using Force to Deter Chemical Warfare
We should not be asking whether the missile strikes against Syria's chemical weapons program represent a lawful humanitarian intervention. Instead, we should be asking if – and…

The Real “Red Line” Behind Trump’s April 2018 Syria Strikes
Former State Department Legal Adviser Harold Koh writes that strikes on Syria could be legal, but key unanswered factual questions remain about April's operation. What's also missing…

Bad Legal Arguments for the Syria Strikes
There is no apparent domestic or international legal authority for the airstrikes conducted in Syria on April 14.

Kurdish-Held Detainees in Syria Are Not in a “Legal Gray Area”
Kurdish troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces stand in a forward operating base overlooking the frontline near the ISIL-held town of Hole in Rojava, Syria. (Photo by John Moore/Getty…

Is the United States a Party to the Conflict Between the Saudi-Led Coalition and the Houthis?
Photo: A U.S.-made Saudi F-15. Image: Meteb Ali via Wikimedia Commons. This is piece is the latest article in our forum on the Yemen crisis and the law. Under international law,…

Cambridge Analytica, Big Data and China
As a researcher into China’s mass surveillance systems, I watch the revelations about the murky practices of the data marketing firm Cambridge Analytica and the debates about…

Paying Attention to Land Rights in Syria Negotiations
As President Donald Trump ponders his response to yet another chemical weapons attack in Syria, advisers and commentators alike are mired in short-term calculations. But one day…

The High Hurdle for Aiding and Abetting Unlawful Attacks in Yemen
This is piece is the the latest article in our forum on the Yemen crisis and the law. The Alien Torts Statute (ATS), a jurisdictional statute that allows non-U.S. citizens to…

‘I Won’t Torture’ is Not Enough: Question Pompeo on US Rendition Policy
Numerous concerns have been raised about Mike Pompeo, President Trump’s nominee for secretary of state. Though the US Senate confirmed him as the Central Intelligence Agency…