Russia’s attack today on Okhmatdyt National Children’s  Hospital in Kyiv – the largest children’s hospital in Ukraine – continues the systematic assault on Ukraine’s health care system, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said.  “Russia’s strategy in Ukraine includes attacking babies and children. Domestic and international actors should intensify efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for these […]

Leonard Chacha Kitoka is the founder and Managing Director of INNOVEX, a leading professional services firm in Africa in the areas of audit, management consulting, taxation, and IT consulting. He is also a founding member of ADC Rwanda and ADC Tanzania, organizations that support the development of Small Business Enterprises (SMEs). With 28 years of […]

Dr. Richard Pozen is EVP and Chief Medical Officer and an expert in Payment Integrity with Cotiviti. He was a co-founder of iHealth Technologies, one of Cotiviti’s predecessors, and has experience on both the payer and provider sides of healthcare. After running a private practice for 14 years, he created Cardiology Network, Inc., to provide […]

The Supreme Court’s decision to avoid ruling on the conflict between Idaho’s extreme ban on access to abortion and a federal law guaranteeing access to abortions in cases of emergency provides a reprieve to pregnant patients in Idaho but leaves pregnant patients experiencing grave health risks and emergency room clinicians facing a medical ethics crisis […]

The Paris Appeals Court’s decision to uphold the international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, for his role in the August 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed more than 1,400 people and injured thousands more in the Damascus suburb Ghouta, affirms that no one is immune from prosecution for egregious war crimes and crimes […]

Kenyan law enforcement must cease their misuse of crowd-control weapons during ongoing protests across the country, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.  “Law enforcement officials who are meant to protect civilians used lethal tactics against protestors and medical personnel trying to help people. Such use of force constitutes a clear violation of human rights,” […]

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A new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union, American Oversight, and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) exposes the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) flawed internal oversight mechanisms and failure to provide adequate medical and mental health care, resulting in preventable deaths of immigrants in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities.  “Deadly Failures: […]

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal oversight mechanisms have failed to conduct rigorous investigations, impose meaningful consequences, or improve conditions that cause immigrants to die in ICE detention.

In the two years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, 14 states have banned abortion in almost all circumstances. As a result, growing numbers of clinicians are facing possible criminal and civil penalties for the provision of basic health care, creating real threats to public health and human rights.  

Child-rights experts from Physicians for Human Rights are collaborating with clinicians at HEAL Africa to care for thousands of people displaced by conflict in North Kivu, including children who suffered sexual violence. 

“Imagine providing critical care to patients with no access to medications or equipment, while your salary is withheld, your basic needs are unmet, and the very place you call home is no longer safe. Hospitals are routinely attacked by combatants. Insidious acts of sexual violence persist, and places of healing are turned into death traps. […]

During its 2014 offensive, ISIS waged horrific violence in Iraq. ISIS targeted religious minorities, including the Yazidis, who suffered brutal attacks on their communities. Thousands of Yazidi men, women, and children were killed, forced into flight, or abducted, raped, and enslaved. Today, ten years later, most survivors are still waiting for justice.   Recognizing the […]

Uliana Poltavets currently serves as the Ukraine Emergency Response Coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). In her role, Uliana focuses on documenting attacks on health care in Ukraine since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Prior to joining PHR, Poltavets spent over a decade advancing the development of Ukrainian civil society and […]

U.S. President Joe Biden’s new executive order placing arbitrary limits on asylum claims at the U.S. border subjects thousands of people escaping life-threatening violence to further risk and trauma, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today.  The restrictions, announced today, activate when the seven-day average for daily crossings reaches 2,500 people attempting to cross the […]

The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling today rejected the challenge to the state’s abortion restrictions, exposing both pregnant patients and physicians to significant risk, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).   In Zurawski v. State of Texas, the Texas Supreme Court refused to clarify the medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban. The case was brought on […]

475 doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals have signed a letter demanding that the U.S. government end the use of solitary confinement in immigration detention facilities due to severe health harms caused by the practice, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today.   The effort represents the largest mobilization to date of medical professionals calling […]

Dear President Biden, Secretary Mayorkas, and Acting Director Lechleitner:  The undersigned 475 healthcare professionals – including, but not limited to, physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers – write today in unison. In alignment with our professional and ethical obligations as healthcare professionals, we urge the U.S. government to immediately cease the use of solitary confinement in […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 22, 2024MEDIA CONTACT: Meredith MacKenzie de Silva, +1-202-412-4270 *This press release is cross-posted from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC). Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a steering committee member of the SHCC. GENEVA – In a new report, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identified 2562 incidents of violence […]

Program Officer, Sexual Violence Conflict Zones 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 of medical and scientific […]

Elizabeth Singer, MD, MPH is an associate professor of emergency medicine, medical education, and global health and health system design at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She is also the Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Human Rights Program. As an expert in health and human rights for over two decades, she […]

Frehiwot Admasu is the Accounting Associate at Physicians for Human Rights. In her role, Frehiwot supports various financial operations, including payroll bookkeeping, processing accounts payable and accounts receivable, and updating financial systems. With six years of experience in accounting, Frehiwot started as an accounts payable clerk and has since expanded expertise in the field. Originally […]

As the Finance and Administrative Officer for Kenya, Stella Muthui supports PHR’s administration, finance, human resources, governance, and information technology. Muthui has extensive and diverse international non-profit organization background experience spanning more than 20 years in various customer service, operations administration, office management, finance, and human resources roles. She has a proven track record of […]

The bombing of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today shows the urgent need for international and national action to protect civilians during the escalating conflict, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.  “Today’s bombing of internally displaced persons camps has once again has put Congolese civilians […]

Submission for Universal Periodic Review of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Fourth Cycle, 47th Session of the Human Rights Council (4 – 15 November, 2024) Submission for Universal Periodic Review of Ethiopia Fourth Cycle, 47th Session of the Human Rights Council (4 – 15 November, 2024)