The Istanbul Protocol: The Global Standard for Torture Documentation and Investigation

Through evidence, change is possible.

We Document.

We Document.

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

We Empower.

We Empower.

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

We Advocate.

We Advocate.

We use our authoritative voice to protect human rights and end impunity for perpetrators.

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.

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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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Report

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

Three to four years after being separated from their children by the…

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Report

“Excited Delirium” and Deaths in Police Custody

“Excited delirium” cannot be disentangled from its racist and unscientific origins and…

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Latest News

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Press Release

PHR Welcomes Supreme Court Ruling on “Remain in Mexico” Policy, Calls for End to Title 42 Border Expulsions

June 30, 2022
Press Release

“The Clock is Running Out”:  UN Security Council Vote on Border Aid Crossing May Imperil Millions of Syrians: PHR

June 28, 2022
Press Release

‘Irreparable Harms for Patients and Health Workers’: PHR Statement on Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization 

June 24, 2022

In Focus

Why the UN Security Council Must Act to Save Lives and Secure Humanitarian Access for Millions in Need in Northern Syria

PHR urges UNSC Member States to renew the Bab al-Hawa border crossing authorization for at least 12 months.
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…
Multimedia

Medical Personnel Are Targeted in Syria

Medical professionals are often on the front lines in conflict situations, providing life-saving health care to civilian communities suffering from violence, abuse, and deprivation.…
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…
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.
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.
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

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…
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…
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…
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