Local Voices

Just Security’s “Local Voices” section features perspectives and analysis from individuals directly affected by conflict, human rights abuses, and political crises around the world.

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316 Articles
Police officers and medical team members gather at a cemetery in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 28, 2025, as they begin the exhumation of a girl's grave. Authorities order the exhumation to conduct a post-mortem examination and establish the cause of death following allegations that the girl was killed under orders from a jirga, an informal tribal court. Suspects are brought to the site for identification as part of the investigation. The incident has sparked public outcry and renewed scrutiny over the role of illegal jirgas, which continue to operate outside the formal legal system in parts of Pakistan. Human rights activists condemn the extrajudicial process and call for legal reforms and stronger protections for women. The case underscores the ongoing challenges of enforcing state law in rural and semi-urban areas where customary practices still hold sway. (Photo by RAJA IMRAN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

When Law Fails Women: Jirgas, Gender Violence, and the Collapse of International Accountability

When women are walked to their deaths with the world watching, international law must offer more than words. It must deliver protection with power.
Taliban personnel shout slogans as they celebrate the fourth anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan near the Kabul Polytechnic University in Kabul on August 15, 2025. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The Experience of Time and Tyranny Under the Taliban in Afghanistan

The clock may seem to tick at the same rate for everyone, but its rhythm is felt differently under the weight of the Taliban's draconian rule.
IMAGES (left to right): Natural disaster and its consequences (via Getty Images); In this picture taken on September 28, 2022, an internally displaced flood-affected family sits outside their tent at a makeshift tent camp in Jamshoro district of Sindh province (Photo by Rizwan Tabassum/AFP via Getty Images; Trees smolder and burn during the Dixie fire near Greenville, California on August 3, 2021. – Numerous fires are raging through the state’s northern forests, as climate change makes wildfire season longer, hotter and more devastating. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Just Security’s Climate Archive

A catalog of articles analyzing the diplomatic, political, legal, security, and humanitarian consequences of the international climate crisis.
Afghan women walk along a stone-laden street on the outskirts of Kabul on July 22, 2025. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

What the Erosion of the International System Means for Afghanistan

The ongoing struggle of Afghanistan’s exiled democratic movement is a vital bulwark against a rising tide of authoritarianism and extremism.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference at the Prime minister's office in Jerusalem on August 10, 2025. (Photo by ABIR SULTAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

More of the Same, But Worse: Netanyahu’s “New” Plan in Gaza

The plan follows a consistent logic: it seeks to deepen territorial control of Gaza while denying the legal consequences that international law attaches to occupation.
A wounded resident of a damaged apartment building is treated by medics

Protecting Health Care in Conflict: Lessons from Ukraine for a Global Roadmap

The international community can learn from the Russia-Ukraine War to curb attacks against health care and ensure justice for victims.
Families and local residents pay their respects, offer prayers, and attach flowers to a truck carrying the coffins of seven newly identified victims of the Srebrenica genocide, as it departs for the Srebrenica-Potocari Memorial Center on July 9, 2025 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the end of the Bosnian War, and July 11th is the anniversary of the Srebrenica Massacre. On that day in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces captured the eastern Bosnian town of Srebrenica, then a U.N.-protected enclave. They began killing over 8,000 Muslim men and boys (Bosniaks) in what became known as the Srebrenica Massacre. The bodies were found in mass graves after the war had ended, and in 2004, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) defined the killings as genocide. (Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Thirty Years After the Srebrenica Genocide: Remembrance and the Global Fight Against Denial

The 30th anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide is not only a historical point, but also a marker in an ongoing war against denial -- of that and so many other atrocities.
US President Donald Trump (R) walks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L)

When the Free Press Falters: What America Can Learn from Russia’s Descent

The unraveling of press freedom in the United States mirrors Putin's capture of the Russian media, write two experts who know both terrains.
Supporters of different opposition presidential candidates demonstrate in Mogadishu on February 19, 2021.

Localizing Genocide Prevention and Addressing the Needs of High-Risk Societies

A newly-rebooted UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect should work with local communities to de-escalate tensions before atrocities occur.
Sudan Marks Two Years of War podcast screenshot

The Just Security Podcast: Sudan Marks Two Years of War

Sudan marks two years of war this week. Where does the country and the international community trying to support it go from here?
Two soldiers walk past a destroyed building in Khartoum.

Two Years of War in Sudan: From Revolution to Ruin and the Fight to Rise Again

As Sudan marks two years of brutal war between the Sudanese army and the RSF, the country stands at a dangerous crossroads.
The photo shows the cart headed toward the camera, against a backdrop of war-ravaged buildings.

New Israeli Guidelines Threaten to Eliminate Humanitarian Action in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Almost Entirely

A revised registration process for international NGOs aiding Palestinians creates a chilling effect against criticism and accountability.
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