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

Reclaim the First Amendment — Harvard Law Review Address

Remarks from Jameel Jaffer, Just Security Executive Editor and Executive Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.
Image: A Sudanese protester carries makeshift scales during a protest asking for the extradition of ousted former president Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court in the capital Khartoum on September 19, 2019. (Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images)

Why the ICC’s First Trial on Darfur is About More Than Securing Justice

Ali Kushayb's trial opens as the military reasserts its control over Sudan. Justice - and peace - will require holding perpetrators accountable, even those who are currently in…

How the U.S. Can Stop Empowering Eurasia’s Authoritarians

"The United States has a valuable opportunity to help the people of Eurasia emerge from the shadow of the Soviet Union’s legacy. It cannot do that if it shuts its eyes to the…
Image: The International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the UN, holds public hearings (by video link) on the preliminary objections raised by Myanmar in the case concerning “Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” (The Gambia v. Myanmar) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, from 21 to 28 February 2022. Sessions are held under the presidency of Judge Joan E. Donoghue, President of the Court. A wide view of the members of the Court on the opening day, including Ko Ko Hlaing, the representative of Myanmar's military junta, on the opening day of the hearings. Feb. 21, 2022. UN Photo/Frank van Beek

The People of Myanmar Need to Be Heard, Not Ostracized, on the International Stage

So far, U.N. bodies have boosted the legitimacy of the Myanmar junta (at the ICJ) or denied the Burmese people the right to be represented at all (at the Human Rights Council).…

Mayorkas Must Rein in Homeland Security Investigations

Urgent action is needed to rein in this part of DHS that has too much power and is subject to too little oversight.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Peter Maurer hold a joint press conference following their talks in Moscow on March 24, 2022. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Neutrality in Humanitarian Actions Means Talking to All Parties to a Conflict

Criticism of ICRC's diplomacy with Russia misunderstands the role of humanitarian actors.
A couple sits in the dark with winter clothing and their belongings and some food close by. Iryna Holoshchapova, a Ukrainian refugee who fled the embattled city of Mykolaiv, shows a video on her smartphone of a friend's apartment block in Mykolaiv on fire following a Russian attack as she, her son Tibor and mother Halina rest in a heated tent at the Medyka border crossing on March 9, 2022 in Medyka, Poland

Ukraine May Mark a Turning Point in Documenting War Crimes

Hendrix's interviews foreground local Ukraine researchers who have been documenting Russian war crimes over many years before now.

Hijab Bans, Hindutva, and the Burden of Hindsight

The rising risk of genocide against Muslims in India requires a response from governments and media companies.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) and Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend the G20 Leaders' Summit in Buenos Aires, on November 30, 2018. - Global leaders gather in the Argentine capital for a two-day G20 summit beginning on Friday likely to be dominated by simmering international tensions over trade.

Embracing Autocrats to Help Ukraine Is a Losing Proposition

Downplaying human rights in the name of building an alliance to oppose Russia’s invasion risks strengthening the global autocratic threat of which the Ukraine conflict is only…
Image: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - MARCH 24: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (L), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C), U.S. President Joe Biden (C-R) and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) looks on during a video call with Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, during a NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels, on March 24, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium. Heads of State and Government take part in the North Atlantic Council (NAC) Summit, where they will decide on the next steps to strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence. (Photo Denzel/Bundesregierung via Getty Images)

Does the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Require States to go to War with Russia?

In short: No. Here's how to understand what the R2P commitment does require in Ukraine and beyond.
Men dressed in suits sit around a large table with stacks of documents in front of each of them. Iona Nikitchenko and Aron Trainin (center, center left) during deliberations at the London Conference, 1945.

Как Советский Союз помог установить преступление агрессивной войны

"Что не всегда признается, так это жизненно важная роль, которую Россия, или, точнее, Советский Союз,…
Altar with signs and candles on stairs

López Obrador’s Last Chance to Protect Mexico’s Press

In Mexico, journalists call for meaningful reform to address the epidemic of deadly violence against the press.
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