As the Middle East faces escalating regional conflict on the one-year anniversary of Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) urgently calls on all parties to adhere to international law and protect civilians from harm.  The attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups on Israel killed 1,139 people […]

Philip Alston is Professor of Law at New York University Law School. He founded the NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice in 2002. He has also taught at Harvard Law School, the Australian National University, the European University Institute and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. In addition to his academic activities, […]

One year after the international community shut down a United Nations monitoring mechanism, health workers in Ethiopia say the crisis in their country is far from over.

Florida’s six-week abortion ban harms the health and safety of Florida patients while obstructing clinicians from providing basic reproductive and maternal medical care, according to a new research brief published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).   “Delayed and Denied: How Florida’s Abortion Ban Criminalizes Medical Care” is the first study to document the consequences […]

Florida’s extreme abortion ban has created an unworkable legal landscape that endangers both patients and clinicians.

Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) Help support the fight for justice and dignity for all by contributing to Physicians for Human Rights from your donor-advised fund (DAF). DAFs are the fastest-growing charitable giving vehicle in the United States because they are one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways to give. DAFs can be easily set up […]

Все більша кількість випадків катувань і сексуального насильства в результаті дій російських сил в Україні потребує подальшої підтримки з боку української влади, щоб поліпшити документування злочинів і підтримку постраждалих, заявили сьогодні в організації Physicians for Human Rights (Лікарі за Права Людини – PHR).У новій аналітичній записці «Підтримка постраждалих від катувань та сексуального насильства, пов’язаного з […]

Increasing numbers of survivors of torture and sexual violence inflicted by Russian forces in Ukraine need further support from Ukrainian authorities to improve how the country’s justice system documents crimes and supports survivors, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.   A new PHR policy brief (Supporting Survivors of Torture and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in […]

PHR assessed the medico-legal documentation pathway in Ukraine to identify opportunities to strengthen systems to center survivors’ well-being, autonomy, and access to remedies.

More than 1000 attacks have now been recorded on health workers, patients, hospitals, and other medical infrastructure in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) since October 7, 2023, more reported attacks on health care than any other conflict over a 10-month period on record, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. PHR calls for independent investigations […]

Grant Writer Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which shared in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, is a US-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 evidence to document violations […]

The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), of which PHR is a part, has released a report (available in English and Ukrainian) documenting 394 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Ukraine in 2023. The ongoing conflict, initiated by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has left nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s […]

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. […]