Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today welcomes the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrants against Vladmir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President, for the war crimes of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of children from occupied areas in Ukraine to the […]

Press release available in English and Ukrainian. Executive Summary On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This act of aggression against a sovereign nation is a gross violation of international law, one that has been widely condemned by the international community. In the year that has followed, attacks on […]

NEW YORK – Medical experts and human rights advocates condemn in the strongest terms Russia’s reported bombing of a hospital’s maternity ward and children’s clinic in Mariupol, Ukraine on Wednesday. The following statement is attributable to Christian De Vos, JD, PhD, director of research and investigations at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR): “Physicians for Human […]

The German government announced Wednesday that testing of a poison used against Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had revealed “proof without doubt of a chemical nerve agent from the Novichok group,” a group of nerve agents developed in the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.   In light of this evidence, Physicians for Human […]

Delivered by PHR Director of Policy and Senior Advisor Susannah Sirkin to the United Nations Security Council on June 29, 2020. Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you for the opportunity to provide this briefing to the Council on the humanitarian crisis in Syria.  It is a historic moment for the Council’s work, as you face […]

The European Court of Human Rights today unanimously ruled that Russia was at fault for the 2009 detention death of Sergei Magnitsky, a whistleblower who reported the embezzlement of $230 million by Russian officials. The landmark judgment cites a Physicians for Humans Rights (PHR) forensic review which analyzed the available evidence of Magnitsky’s treatment in […]

In 2009,Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian anti-corruption crusader who had alleged large-scale theft by state officials, died after 11 months in police custody during which he was subjected to torture and medical neglect.  In 2011, a team of PHR forensic experts conducted the first independent evaluation of the Magnitsky case and concluded that his death was […]

After midnight on October 16, Russian forces carried out airstrikes on two hospitals in Syria. Al-Hader Hospital and al-‘Ais Hospital were both put out of service, leaving the southern Aleppo countryside without a functioning medical facility. With terror in their voices, staff from these hospitals gave impassioned testimonies: “There are zero hospitals [left], everyone, zero.” […]

After reporting an alleged $230 million tax fraud perpetrated by a group of Russian government officials and senior police officers, Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer stationed in Russia for the UK‐based investment firm Hermitage Fund, was arrested and jailed on November 24, 2008. Magnitsky died following 358 days in prison under progressively worsening conditions. PHR’s International […]