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
It’s a Serious Mistake for the US Government To Maintain It Need Not Follow Human Rights Law Beyond US Borders
[Editor’s Note: Just Security is holding a “mini forum” on the extraterritorial application of human rights treaties in light of the release of two State Department memos and…
Forum on the Extraterritorial Application of Human Rights Treaties: Analyzing the State Department Memos
The New York Times, in a must-read story by Charlie Savage, provides the full text of two significant memos written by Harold Koh during his time as Legal Adviser of the State…
A New Turn in the Story on CIA Monitoring of Senate Intelligence Committee Computers
In the late evening of March 4, 2014, McClatchy reported that the CIA’s Inspector General had asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into CIA monitoring…
Nils Melzer on Whether U.S. Citizen Abdullah al-Shami is a Lawful Military Target
The Obama Administration is reportedly evaluating whether a lethal operation against a US citizen in Pakistan is legally permissible. Last Friday an important story by Mark Mazzetti…
Too Much War, Not Enough Human Rights from the UN Special Rapporteur and European Parliament
Special Rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism Ben Emmerson’s latest report and the European Parliament’s resolution on drones highlight some pressing issues. Most…
Key Findings in New UN Special Rapporteur Report on Drones
The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson, has now released the final report on…
The Extraterritoriality of Human Rights Obligations
Following my short post on the extraterritoriality of human rights obligations, and our series on lex specialis and the interface between the law of armed conflict and international…
The State Department Human Rights Reports and National Security
Last Thursday U.S. Secretary of State Kerry presided over the release of the annual State Department Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. This marks the 37th year that the…
United Nations Releases New Report on Drones
[Editor’s note: Emmerson’s drone report is also publicly available on the UN website.] Last year, two UN Special Rapporteurs released major reports on drones — a…
RightsCon, March 3-5, San Francisco
Further to all our coverage of the use and abuse of digital technologies, I commend RightsCon to our readers—a gathering of the Silicon Valley (and beyond) tech community, digital…
Italian Court of Cassation Reverses Convictions of Italian Intelligence Agents Involved in Bush-Era Extraordinary Rendition
Reuters and AP have reported that Italy’s highest court in criminal matters, the Court of Cassation, reversed the convictions on Monday of five Italian military intelligence…
Lithuanian Prosecutors Open Probe into CIA Black Site
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened a pre-trial investigation into allegations that a Saudi Guantánamo detainee, Mustafa al-Hawsawi was held at a secret CIA…