I will never forget when violence broke out during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity in 2013-2014. On a very cold winter day in Kyiv, confrontation between police and protesters escalated. I watched a bus burn in front of me on a central street. Even then, it seemed to me like an omen. Those of us who […]

A staggering 1762 attacks on health care facilities, workers, and infrastructure have been perpetrated since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago, according to new data published today by a group of human rights and humanitarian organizations. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) calls on global actors to hold perpetrators of these crimes to account, as well […]

Russia’s widespread and systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid have harmed health care workers and endangered patients, according to a first-of-its-kind report published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and Truth Hounds. Ninety-two percent of 2,261 Ukrainian health care workers surveyed report experiencing power outages at their health care facility due to attacks on […]

Широкомасштабні та систематичні атаки Росії на енергетичну інфраструктуру України завдають серйозної шкоди медичним працівникам і наражають пацієнтів на небезпеку, як зазначено в опублікованому сьогодні звіті організацій Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) і Truth Hounds. За результатами опитування українських медпрацівників, 92% з 2 261 людини повідомили про відключення електроенергії в їхніх закладах охорони здоров’я внаслідок атак […]

Russia’s direct attacks on health facilities, as well as strikes on energy infrastructure with reported impact on health care facilities, have impeded health care delivery and endangered patients and health care workers alike.

PHR fights for justice for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and empowers the clinicians that support them.

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.

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 […]

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

“If any of you worry about the issues that are going on in the world as you listen to the news every day and you feel somewhat powerless because the problems, the fractures, are too large and too many, I think you and I can take comfort that PHR is playing its part everywhere in […]

The Academy Award best documentary film win tonight for “20 Days in Mariupol” highlights how Russian forces have attacked Ukrainian hospitals and health workers as a barbaric war strategy, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).  The documentary depicts the deadly aftermath of the Russian bombing of Maternity Hospital No 3 in Mariupol, Ukraine on March […]

Ukraine’s health care workers, facilities, and other medical infrastructure have been attacked at least 1,336 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to new data from Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and international and Ukrainian partner organizations. With Ukraine’s health system attacked an average of nearly two times per day since February 2022, PHR […]

Russian authorities have systematically sought to target Ukraine’s health care system as a way to cement their control over the civilian population in Ukrainian territories under occupation, a new case study by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and partner organizations shows. These violations of the laws of war and human rights demand proper investigation and […]

Дані свідчать про те, що російська влада систематично намагається атакувати систему охорони здоров’я України, щоб зміцнити свій контроль над цивільним населенням на тимчасово окупованих територіях України, як показує нове тематичне дослідження, проведене організацією Physicians for Human Rights (“Лікарі за права людини”) та партнерськими організаціями. Ці порушення законів і звичаїв війни та прав людини вимагають належного […]

Press release available in English and Ukrainian. Executive Summary This case study expands on existing documentation of Russia’s widespread and systematic attacks on Ukraine’s health care system. It explores ways in which Russia has sought to systematically target health care as an apparent means of degrading resistance and, in Ukraine’s occupied territories, as a means of enforcing control […]

Today Ukraine marks the grim milestone of more than 1,000 attacks on health care workers and infrastructure since Russia’s full-scale invasion began 17 months ago, according to documentation and monitoring by human rights and humanitarian organizations. So far, an estimated 148 health workers have been killed in these attacks and 414 attacks on hospitals and […]

Від початку повномасштабного вторгнення Росії зафіксовано понад 1000 атак на охорону здоров’я. Такі дані наводить коаліція українських та міжнародних організацій, які відстежують та документують атаки на охорону здоров’я, —  EyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight, Медійна ініціатива за права людини, Physicians for Human Rights та Український центр охорони здоров’я. Система охорони здоров’я України — медичні працівники, […]

Summary eyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight, Media Initiative for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (together, the submitting organizations) jointly submit this report to inform the examination of the Russian Federation (Russia) during its Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This submission focuses on international humanitarian and human rights law concerns relating […]

UN Human Rights Council 53rd Session, Oral Statement on Ukraine (res. 47/22) and interim report of the Secretary General on human rights in Crimea (GA res. 77/229), 12 July 2023 Speaker: Saman Zia-Zarifi, Executive Director Oral Statement as Delivered: Physicians for Human Rights wishes to echo the High Commissioner’s concerns about Russian attacks on civilian […]

For more than 35 years, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has worked at the intersection of medicine, science, and law to end human suffering, save lives, and secure justice and universal human rights for all. Read about our impact in our 2022 Annual Report.

The United Nations Human Rights Council’s 52nd session in Geneva concluded this week with some meaningful advances for health and human rights. In addition to the adoption of the landmark resolution on the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment (A/HRC/51/L.7), the Human Rights Council (HRC) also renewed the mandates for several important […]

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 […]