“Part of my heart was torn away”: What the U.S. Government Owes the Tortured Survivors of Family Separation

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We Document.

We use the power of science and forensic medicine to establish a fact-based record of human rights abuses.

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We enable front line human rights defenders to expose violations and hold perpetrators accountable.

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About Us

About Us

We investigate and document human rights violations, give voice to survivors and witnesses,…

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Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Crisis in Ukraine: Human Rights under Fire  Російське вторгнення в Україну In…

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Virtual Gala

Virtual Gala

PHR Virtual Gala: A Celebration of Health and Human Rights Heroes Sunday,…

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Latest News

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Press Release

At Least 1,335 Attacks and Threats to Health Care Perpetrated in Conflicts in 2021, Marring Health Systems: Report

May 24, 2022
Press Release

Title 42 Court Ruling Condemns Asylum Seekers to Persecution and Danger: PHR

May 20, 2022
Press Release

"Shortsighted and a Failure of Leadership": Congress and White House Must Act on Global COVID-19 Response and Vaccine Equity: PHR

May 10, 2022

Crisis in Ukraine

In its violent and unlawful invasion of Ukraine, Russia has launched indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian targets, including hospitals, schools, and humanitarian corridors.

In Focus

Blog

Six Priorities for New White House Coronavirus Coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) welcomes and congratulates Dr. Ashish Jha on his new position as the White House Coronavirus Coordinator, which he began…
Blog

As Putin Bombs Hospitals in Ukraine, I Hear Echoes from Syria

This article was originally published by The New Humanitarian, a news agency specialised in reporting humanitarian crises. Many Syrians are experiencing heart-wrenching flashbacks as…
Report

“Excited Delirium” and Deaths in Police Custody

“Excited delirium” cannot be disentangled from its racist and unscientific origins and is not a valid, independent medical or psychiatric diagnosis.
Blog

Helping Asylum-seekers Find Sanctuary

Originally published by Yale Medicine Magazine 2022 Issue 168, “More than skin deep”. Article written by Sumaiya Sayeed. Of the many reasons to leave…
Multimedia

The Disappeared Doctors of Syria

The Syrian government has targeted health care workers with detention, abuse, and torture. Here are some of their stories.
Report

Destruction, Obstruction, and Inaction: The Makings of a Health Crisis in Northern Syria

PHR report provides evidence of compounded health disparities and inequities across northern Syria in the wake of a decade-long assault on health care by…
Blog

A Trump-era Pandemic Policy is Undermining Public Health at the Border. Biden Must End It.

The U.S. is summarily expelling migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in the name public health.
Report

The Survivors, the Dead, and the Disappeared: Detention of Health Care Workers in Syria, 2011-2012

PHR's analysis of patterns in the Syrian government’s forced disappearance, detention, and abuse of health care workers during the early years of the Syrian…
Blog

Five Ways to Protect Sexual Violence Survivors in Research and Monitoring and Evaluation

For professionals who work in sexual violence research and monitoring and evaluation (M&E), engaging with survivors of sexual violence can be a powerful tool…
Blog

Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Need Urgent Access to COVID-19 Vaccines

Hopes of controlling the COVID-19 pandemic are increasing, with nearly five billion doses of vaccines administered globally. Yet for vulnerable populations such as Rohingya…
Blog

Survivors of Domestic and Gang Violence Deserve a Chance at Asylum in the U.S.

After being thrown out of her home as a teenager by her stepmother, Maria* was raped by the son of her employer, who then…
Multimedia

From Behind Closed Doors: Voices of Hunger Strikers in U.S. Immigration Detention

Each day, the United States government unnecessarily locks up thousands of people, including children, in civil immigration detention in more than two hundred immigration…