As Deputy Director of Major Gifts at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Olga Palinkasev Gregorian leads the strategy for cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding major donors in support of PHR’s work. With more than 20 years of experience in the international nonprofit sector, she brings strategic leadership expertise in major gifts, donor engagement and communications, institutional […]

Russian forces must immediately cease their mounting attacks on medical warehouses, transport, and distribution infrastructure, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today, following multiple strikes against medical supply facilities over twelve days that reportedly destroyed hundreds of metric tons of medicines and the storage capacity that Ukraine’s health system and population depends on. “Destroying a […]

The Trump administration’s “America First Global Health Strategy” has damaged efforts to respond to the most urgent public health crises facing the world, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. September 18, 2026 marks one year since the launch of the America First Global Health Strategy, which represented a new approach to U.S. global health […]

Africa is responding to an active Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — in a global health landscape that has shifted sharply beneath it. Financing is being reconfigured, donor commitments have contracted, and the surveillance, treatment and workforce arrangements Africa has relied on for two decades can no longer be assumed. This […]

In the United States, the Supreme Court’s rollback of the right to abortion in June 2022 has led to widespread violations of human rights.

Torture is the intentional infliction of severe mental or physical pain or suffering, by or with the approval of state agents. Torture breaks people’s bodies and minds, rips apart communities, and destroys democratic institutions and the rule of law. Since our founding in 1986, PHR’s core mission has included investigating, documenting, and reporting the devastating […]

NEW YORK — As the risk of renewed armed conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region grows and conflicts in the Amhara and Afar regions continue, all armed forces must cease the deliberate attacks on hospitals and health workers that have nearly collapsed the health system, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and […]

Attacks on health care have become a major feature of armed conflict in Ethiopia. Attacks and threats to health care infrastructure, supply chains, and the health care workforce continue to be used as a tactic in conflict-affected regions of Ethiopia, including Tigray, Amhara, and Afar.

The aim of this publication is to provide practical guidance and tools for documenting civilian harm from attacks on energy infrastructure. The focus is on measuring the impacts of attacks on energy infrastructure through indicators related to civilians’ physical health, mental health, education, and livelihoods, among other aspects of civilian life. This guide provides an […]

(New York) – The death over the weekend of Edwin Lopez-Cornejo, a 41-year-old from El Salvador, at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark is the 53rd known death in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since the start of this administration. That represents nearly four times the death rate under the Biden administration, or two and a half times the rate during the first Trump administration. Deaths are increasing faster than the […]

(Nairobi, Kenya)— Kenya’s Supreme Court heard final arguments today in a landmark case that could determine the extent of the state’s obligation to provide reparations and effective remedies to survivors of election-related sexual violence. Eight survivor-petitioners of the country’s 2007-08 post-election violence were joined in the case by four civil society organizations: the Coalition on […]

(New York / RDC) – Plus de 1 000 décès liés à Ebola ont désormais été confirmés depuis que l’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) a déclaré une épidémie de maladie à virus Ebola le 15 mai 2026. Cette flambée, dont l’épicentre se situe, dans la province de l’Ituri en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), […]

Nairobi, Kenya — Nearly two decades after Kenya’s 2007-08 post-election violence, the Supreme Court will hear final arguments on July 29, 2026, in a case that will decide the government’s constitutional duty to protect survivors of sexual violence committed by non-state actors. The case concerns eight survivor-petitioners of election-related violence and originated before the High […]

(New York / DRC) – More than 1,000 Ebola-related deaths have now been confirmed since the World Health Organization declared an outbreak of the Ebola virus on May 15, 2026. The outbreak, with its epicenter in Bunia, Ituri Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), involves the Bundibugyo strain for which no approved vaccine or […]

Strategic litigation is a core tool that PHR uses to advocate for justice. By bringing medical evidence into the courtroom, we challenge policies that harm patients, undermine science, and violate fundamental human rights. Our work bridges medicine and law – translating frontline clinical expertise and research into compelling legal arguments that protect lives and hold governments accountable.  PHR partners with legal organizations, […]

Law enforcement agencies in the United States have used excessive force and wielded crowd-control weapons in dangerous ways against demonstrators protesting the dramatic escalation in immigration enforcement. To document that misuse systematically, and give the public, government officials, and oversight bodies the information they need to prevent further abuses, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and […]

New York, N.Y. / Berkeley, California — Law enforcement agents misused crowd-control weapons during protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in 412 verified incidents across 16 U.S. cities from when immigration enforcement protests escalated in Los Angeles in June 2025 until May 2026, according to Charting the Crackdown, a digital mapping report released […]

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Human Rights Center at the University of California at Berkeley (HRC) published “Charting the Crackdown”, a report that documents 412 incidents where federal and local agencies misused crowd-control weapons (CCWs) between June 2025-2026.

Health and Human Rights Researcher (Middle East or Africa Consultant) Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which shared in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, is a U.S.-based international advocacy organization working at the intersection of medicine, science, and law. With a global network of thousands of medical, scientific, and legal experts, PHR uses the power […]

Lawyers for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya say the Palestinian physician is facing grave illness and abuse inside Israel detention. Dr. Nahreen Ahmed traveled to Gaza and worked alongside Dr. Abu Safiya in Gaza. She was moved by his unwavering dedication to his patients as director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “He was able to find […]

Advocating on Behalf of Patients in Immigration Custody: What Clinicians Need to Know Wednesday, July 8 | Held online via Zoom | 7:00pm ET / 6:00pm CT / 5:00pm MT / 4:00pm PT (90 minutes)  Immigration enforcement is increasingly reaching into hospitals and clinics across the United States. Clinicians are caring for patients who arrive accompanied by, and in the custody of officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and […]

Webinar: Expanding Medical Expertise into Broader Immigration, Civil Rights, and Accountability Work Wednesday, July 29 | Held online via Zoom | 7:00pm ET / 6:00pm CT / 5:00pm MT / 4:00pm PT (90 minutes)  Clinicians trained in forensic medical evaluation (FME) and the Istanbul Protocol have long applied those skills within humanitarian protection and asylum […]

(Washington, DC, June 25, 2026) – The rate of people dying in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has soared, with at least 52 deaths reported since the start of President Donald Trump’s current administration, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights said in a report released today. The 72-page report, “Dying in […]

The mortality rate of deaths in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since Trump’s second term began.

Rachel Guerreiro is the Advocacy and Operations Coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights, supporting PHR’s research, legal, and advocacy efforts to ensure accountability for human rights violations, as well as the general operational functions that enable the organization to advance its mission. Prior to joining PHR, she served as Program Coordinator at the NGO Committee […]