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Fact Sheet

What Constitutes a High-Quality, Comprehensive Medico-Legal Affidavit in the United States Immigration Context?

This fact sheet summarizes the findings of the first published multi-sectoral consensus-building exercise on medico-legal affidavits in the U.S. immigration context. Medico-legal affidavits are underpinned by an expert medical evaluation which can objectively contextualize trauma and corroborate accounts of abuse; they are a critical component in immigration proceedings where somebody is seeking protection on the […]

June 9, 2023
Asylum
Fact Sheet

The Human Rights Implications of Global COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

The novel coronavirus has spread rapidly around the globe, infecting more than 100 million people and killing more than two million, with the toll rising daily. There are more than 25 million cases of COVID-19 and more than 450,000 deaths in the United States alone. Meanwhile, new coronavirus variants originating from Brazil, South Africa, and […]

February 25, 2021
COVID-19
Fact Sheet

Crowd-Control Weapons and Social Protest in the United States

In response to recent protests against racism and police brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd by police in May 2020, law enforcement officers across the United States have deployed crowd-control weapons, such as tear gas, rubber bullets, and pepper spray to disperse large crowds. While these weapons are often referred to as “non-lethal” […]

June 16, 2020
Chemical Weapons
Fact Sheet

Preparing for, Protecting Against, and Treating Tear Gas and Other Chemical Irritant Exposure: A Protestor’s Guide

As people around the world take to the streets to protest against police brutality, they are often being met with violent crackdowns by law enforcement officers firing tear gas and other crowd-control weapons. Deceptively known as “less-lethal,” these weapons can in fact cause severe injuries and even death when used with excessive force. Physicians for […]

June 10, 2020
Weapons
Fact Sheet

Health Impacts of Crowd-Control Weapons: Kinetic Impact Projectiles (Rubber Bullets)

Kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) commonly known as rubber and plastic bullets, are used for crowd-control purposes by law enforcement worldwide in multiples forms and are shot from myriad types of guns and launchers.

January 1, 2017
Weapons
Fact Sheet

Health Impacts of Crowd-Control Weapons: Chemical Irritants (Tear Gas and Pepper Spray)

Overview Chemical irritants (CIs), commonly known as tear gas and pepper spray, are used for crowd-control purposes by law enforcement worldwide. While the public perception may be that CIs cause minimal, transient harm, the findings of a systematic review of medical literature carried out by Physicians for Human Rights identify troubling levels of morbidity and […]

January 1, 2017
Weapons

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