International Law

International Human Rights Law

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Abortion rights activists rally in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on May 21, 2019. Signs read, "Safe abortion is a human right" and "Keep abortion legal."

UN Experts to Trump Administration: Reproductive Rights are Human Rights

It is crucial to call out US efforts to undermine the UN human rights system and erase the well-established framework of rights protections.
Boys lay on top of one another at an overcrowded Juveniles’ cell at Tal Kayf prison in April 2019.

How to Answer Iraq’s Failure to Put a Stop to Torture

Parliament should ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. Short of that, Prime Minister al-Kadhimi can take action.
A protester holds a sign reading, “End Torture” at a rally to "demand Congressional action to stop torture" on Capitol Hill March 10, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Uphold the Prohibition on Torture

A full reckoning for state-sanctioned American torture remains unfinished. The Obama administration took important steps towards fulfilling US obligations but fell short of what…
Razor wire tops the fence of the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Toward a New Approach to National and Human Security: Introduction

One year from today marks the 20th anniversary of 9/11. A president addressing the nation on such a solemn occasion should be able to tell the American people not only that there…
This photo taken on May 31, 2019 shows Uighur women praying in a graveyard on the outskirts of Hotan in China's northwest Xinjiang region.

How China is Violating Human Rights Treaties and its own Constitution in Xinjiang

China’s “Strike Hard” campaign against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, ... questionably framed by the Chinese government as a counterterrorism operation,…
Martin Griffiths, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen on a screen for a virtual Security Council meeting.

National Security at the United Nations This Week (July 25-31)

(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,…
Mothers form the front line of a protest march toward Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse on July 20, 2020 in Portland, Oregon.

U.N. Human Rights Committee General Comment No. 37 on Freedom of Assembly: An Excellent and Timely Contribution

General Comment No. 37 by the U.N. Human Rights Committee, the treaty body monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), was released…
Cristof Heyns

Interview with Christof Heyns: Major New UN Comment on Right of Peaceful Assembly

Podcast and transcript of interview with United Nations Human Rights Committee's Heyns. Topics include use of plain clothed law enforcement officers, teargas, and more.
Migrants walk together along the U.S./Mexican border wall as they look to turn themselves over to the U.S. Border Patrol as they seek asylum in the United States on June 04, 2019 in El Paso, Texas.

Trump’s Latest Assault on Asylum Has Nothing to Do with National Security or Public Health

Last Thursday the Trump administration issued the latest in a long line of administrative rules that unlawfully ban and punish asylum seekers and others pursuing related humanitarian…
Demonstrators participate in a protest against police brutality on June 14, 2020 in Miami, Florida.

Systemic Racist Police Brutality Shocks the Conscience of Humanity, but is it an International Crime?

(Editor’s note: To mark today’s 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia, Just Security is publishing two articles. In addition to this piece by Margaret deGuzman…
A man attends a protest rally organized by the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement on June 28, 2018 in font of Agora in Montpellier, southern France, against the performance of Israeli Batsheva Dance Company at the Montpellier Dance Festival.

Freedom of Expression and Political Controversy: The ECtHR’s BDS Judgment

In its June 11 Baldassi et al v. France judgment (French original not yet translated), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) confirmed and reinforced the fundamental right…
Protesters march through the city during a protest in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on June 14, 2020 in Wellington, New Zealand. A protester holds a sign reading, "Indigenous People for Black Liberation #BLM"

How Inter-State Procedures in Human Rights Treaties Can Support the Black Lives Matter Movement

The initiation of inter-State conciliation proceedings alone, under either convention, could send a powerful and symbolic message about the need for reform. The Conventions provide…
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