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.
Highlights:
Who Will Stand Up for Human Rights in 2026 – and How?
The deterioration in human rights in 2025 heightens the risks for defenders going forward, all worsened by donors' deep funding cuts, especially those of the United States.
Collection: U.S. Lethal Strikes on Suspected Drug Traffickers, Operation Southern Spear, Operation Absolute Resolve
Collection of expert analysis on the legality of the U.S. strike on Venezuelan vessels in the Caribbean, the consequences of the strike, and related issues.
Expert Q&A on U.S. Military Actions on Venezuela and Boat Strikes
Expert FAQ on the U.S. military operations against Venezuela, high seas boat strikes, seizure of vessels and more.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Let Not Arrogance Be Our Doom
With humility and our collective morals and values, we must extinguish the flames of hubris in US foreign and domestic policy, or "our arrogance will be our doom."
Military Force Will Not Help the People of Iran
This is an Iranian uprising, and it is up to the people of Iran to decide their own future.
Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
A public resource tracking all the legal challenges to the Trump administration's executive orders and actions.
3,075 Articles
Proving Genocide: Party Presentation
Myanmar appears to have changed its position in Gambia v. Myanmar, a historic genocide case before the ICJ. This change may prove decisive in the court's pending decision.
Just Security’s Russia–Ukraine War Archive
A catalog of over 100 articles (many with Ukrainian translations) on the Russia Ukraine War -- law, diplomacy, policy options, and more.
The United States in Retreat
Whatever the modest cost-savings that are generated by this U.S. withdrawal from the multilateral system, the loss of long-term influence will be far greater.
Elements of Genocide: Intent to Kill
The ICJ should explicitly interpret ‘intentionally’ killing members of a group to include dolus directus and dolus eventualis in the case brought by Gambia against Myanmar.
Proving Genocide: Patterns of Conduct
As the ICJ hears Gambia v. Myanmar, the Court should continue to consider “patterns of conduct,” while weighing this evidence with other sources for genocidal intent.
When Crises Become Courtrooms: How Africa’s Engagement with the ICJ Is Rewriting the Playbook of International Law
Litigants from Africa and the African diaspora are doing more than “using” courts during emergencies. They are actively shaping doctrine.
A U.S.-Russia-China Entente? The Unmaking of the Sovereignty System via the Western Sahara
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2797 endorses Morocco's Autonomy Plan for Western Sahara, normalizing domination in a U.S.-China-Russia tripolar order.
The International Law Obligation to Investigate the Boat Strikes
Operation Southern Spear’s lethal boat strikes are unlawful under IHRL and, even on the administration’s own terms, trigger binding LOAC and DoD duties to investigate.
Just Security’s Artificial Intelligence Archive
Just Security's collection of articles analyzing the implications of AI for society, democracy, human rights, and warfare.
Why a Ukraine-Russia Amnesty Would Violate Geneva Convention Obligations
An amnesty in any future peace plan would be unlawful and a moral abdication of the pursuit of accountability for victims in Russia's war in Ukraine.
History and International Law Proscribe Amnesties for Russian War Crimes
Compromising on prosecutions for Russian atrocities would erode the system of international justice built since Nuremberg and undermine the rule of law itself.
Does the United States Still Oppose Torture?
The U.S. broke with decades of UN consensus by voting against a resolution condemning torture, prompting global concerns about American commitments to human rights.