In response to the Trump administration’s new sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), the following quote is attributable to Sam Zarifi, JD, executive director of PHR: “The Trump administration’s new sanctions on the ICC are an attack on children who survived conflict-related sexual violence in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The sanctions are […]
In a health clinic in Uganda, a doctor recounted to PHR that five babies were born HIV positive among the 20 deliveries at the facility between mid-January and mid-April 2025 – a devastating setback after years of virtually eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The head of another Ugandan health facility described his feeling of helplessness […]
To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (Geneva, Switzerland) 8 October 2026 Ethiopia: The Human Rights Council should convene a special session to address the quickly deteriorating human rights situation and prevent further atrocity crimes Excellencies, As armed hostilities have resumed on a large scale in […]
A decade ago, the UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 2286 condemning attacks on health care facilities and personnel in conflict. While this resolution was hailed as a turning point, attacks on health care have since skyrocketed. 2025 saw a record 1,981 health workers and patients killed, more than twice as many killings as in […]
The Assad family ruled Syria for 53 years, overseeing decades of repression, a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011, and 14 years of brutal armed conflict. Following nearly two years of transition after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, Maram Haddad – a Syrian expert who serves as PHR’s Deputy Director of […]
October 2, 2026
Attacks on Health Care, Mass Atrocities, Sexual Violence
The Trump administration’s sanctions (Executive Order 14,203) on the International Criminal Court (ICC) will lead to “direct, irreparable harm” to survivors of grave human rights abuses around the globe, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) argues in a new amicus brief filed at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in American […]
Regional and international actors must act now to help deescalate mounting conflict in Ethiopia, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. Ethiopia stands on the brink of resuming widespread conflict, following reports of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front’s (TPLF) seizure of several airports in Tigray and offensive against federal forces in Amhara and Afar, increasing […]
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH) have conducted extensive research on attacks on health care in Ethiopia. Their August 2026 research brief, Stolen, Broken, Destroyed: How Impunity Has Fueled Ongoing Attacks on Health Care in Ethiopia, shows how years of impunity have turned […]
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 […]
