Human Rights
874 Articles
Michael Ratner: The Leading Progressive Lawyer of a Generation
I just heard that Michael Ratner passed away from complications due to cancer. His New York Times obituary is here. My heart is broken. Michael was an extraordinary lawyer and…
Michael Ratner, RIP
My good friend and mentor, Michael Ratner, has died at age 72. A lawyer who worked with the Center for Constitutional Rights for more than 40 years, he was one of the great human…
Female Suicide Bombers: Somethings Old and Somethings New
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
The Human Rights Risks of Countering Violent Extremism Programs
With national and international institutions scrambling to adopt Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) programs, the UN Special Rapporteur for counterterrorism and human rights, Ben…
Digital Disruption of Human Rights
Last week, we explored the conceptual challenges to the universal human rights framework that have been brought by digital technology. Today, we shift from conceptual to concrete…
So Software Has Eaten the World: What Does It Mean for Human Rights, Security & Governance?
In 2011, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor Marc Andreessen famously wrote the startling essay, Why Software is Eating the World, in which he described how emerging companies…
“More Than a Domestic Mechanism”: Options for Hybrid Justice in Sri Lanka
For nearly three decades, the government of Sri Lanka fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), but after years of resistance, the new government has committed to…
The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Geographical Scope of Human Rights Law
On January 21, a British investigation concluded that Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably” approved the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, who died…
The Complexities of the FARC Deal
As I noted at the end of the year, the Government of Colombia and the FARC-EP are continuing peace talks in Havana, Cuba aimed at ending the longest running conflict in the Western…
The Way Forward for Surveillance Reform Can Balance Human Rights and Government Needs
The fall of 2015 was marked by two key developments in the debate about laws on communications surveillance and the right to privacy. First, on October 6, the EU Court of Justice…
ISIS in the United States: Which Legal Regime Applies?
Consider the following hypothetical: It is 10:00pm in Times Square, New York City. The “city that never sleeps” is bustling with tourists, Broadway shows, street performers,…
The Past is Never Far Away: Prosecutions for Human Rights Violations in Guatemala
News that Guatemalan prosecutors have announced the arrest of 14 former military officials on charges connected to massacres and disappearances during the country’s protracted…