Human Rights
968 Articles
10 Questions about the UK Spying on Amnesty International
Yesterday, the UK’s Investigatory Powers Tribunal informed Amnesty International that British intelligence agency GCHQ had spied on the human rights organization by intercepting…
What Rights Does International Law Afford Umm Sayyaf?
The legal machinations within the US government must have been considerable last month after an American special operations raid in Syria captured Umm Sayyaf, the wife of suspected…
The UN’s “Universal Periodic Review” of US Human Rights Practices—National Security Highlights
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review released a draft of its report on the United States’ UPR. The UPR is a process during…
US Drone Killings of Western Aid Workers Highlight Problems of Nebulous War
President Obama’s apology for the accidental killings of two innocent hostages by US drones in Pakistan has led to understandable criticism of the United States’ secret drone…
A Legal and Operational Assessment of Israel’s Targeting Practices
Over the course of 50 days in the summer of 2014, the Israeli Defense Forces conducted a high-intensity air and ground campaign against Hamas in the Gaza strip. Sparked by the…
Killing a Cleric: Many More Questions Than Answers
Yesterday, Ryan wrote about the killing, presumably by US drone, of Ibrahim al-Rubaysan, an alleged leading cleric of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Ryan presumes that…
A Proper Response to the Massacre at Kenya’s Garissa University College
The magnitude of last week’s massacre at Garissa University College in Kenya, located roughly 100 miles from the Somalia border, is shocking. In the course of the day, the death…
China’s Golden Shield—Is Cisco Systems Complicit?
This is Part I of a series on a case pending in the Northern District of California against Cisco Systems involving the company’s provision of technology to help construct,…
Call for Papers: Columbia’s Human Rights Law Review & Human Rights Institute
The Columbia Human Rights Law Review, in collaboration with the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, is issuing a call for submissions for a special symposium edition entitled…
Global Magnitsky Act Re-Introduced
Senators Bill Cardin (D-Md) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) have re-introduced the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (S. 284) aimed at expanding the U.S.’s efforts…
The Arms Trade Treaty Enters Into Force
On Christmas Eve, the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT, text here) entered into force in record time following the attainment of 50+ ratifications. The ATT is the first multilateral treaty…
UN Panel: Blackwater Convictions are the “Exception, not the Rule”
Last week’s Blackwater convictions highlight an urgent need for an international treaty ensuring that private security contractors are held accountable if they commit human rights…