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 […]

The Russian Federation’s aggression-leading to both targeted and indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine’s health care facilities, amongst other civilian infrastructure-constitutes a gross violation of international law. This map documents these assaults which have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s health care system.  This map is a joint undertaking among eyeWitness to Atrocities (eyeWitness), Insecurity Insight, Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR), Physicians for […]

KYIV/NEW YORK– 707 violent attacks on hospitals, health workers, and other medical infrastructure devastated Ukraine’s health system during the first year since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion, according to a new investigation published today by human rights investigators. An average of two attacks on health care – including the bombing of hospitals, torture of medics, […]

КИЇВ/НЬЮ-ЙОРК — 707 жорстоких атак на лікарні, іншу інфраструктуру охорони здоров’я та медичних працівників серйозно пошкодили систему охорони здоров’я України за рік повномасштабного вторгнення Російської Федерації. Про це йдеться у дослідженні, яке сьогодні опублікували організації eyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight (II), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), Медійна ініціатива за права людини (МІПЛ) та Український центр […]

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 […]

PHR delivered strong statements to world leaders to stop illegal attacks on health care in places such as Myanmar, Syria, and Ukraine, and demand accountability for human rights abuses.

Систематичні атаки на медичні заклади, напади на швидкі та медиків, перешкоджання наданню медичної допомоги цивільним — це все свідомі дії Російської Федерації, яка використовує їх, як інструмент у війні. Саме тому розслідування випадків атак та притягнення винних до відповідальності є надзвичайно важливими для досягнення справедливості. Український центр охорони здоров’я (UHC), Лікарі за права людини (Physicians […]

In a new joint submission to the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (IICIU), four independent NGOs call on the Commission to investigate the ongoing attacks on hospitals and health workers in Ukraine perpetrated by Russian forces, which are flagrant violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.   The four organizations – […]

At least 500 attacks on health care have been perpetrated during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine since February, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Surpassing this grim milestone in just over six months of conflict underscores how the Russian government has targeted Ukraine’s health system as a strategy of war, as it has done […]

This article was originally published by The New Humanitarian, a news agency specialised in reporting humanitarian crises. Many Syrians are experiencing heart-wrenching flashbacks as we watch the mounting devastation in Ukraine and the millions of refugees fleeing. As a Syrian physician who provided medical care amid the war in my country, it’s especially painful when […]

The organizations listed below express our deepest concern for the ongoing and escalating conflict in Ukraine, and call on governments to guarantee the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all women, adolescents and girls, as well as gender-diverse people, in the context of the refugees crisis affecting the Ukrainian border and its neighboring countries. Of […]

March 23, 2022 His Excellency Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization Your Excellency: The undersigned leaders of organizations active in global health in areas of conflict express our appreciation for the WHO’s rapid confirmation of attacks on health care in Ukraine through the Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care (SSA) […]

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 […]

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is gravely concerned by and condemns the wanton aggression, indiscriminate attacks, and violence against civilians perpetrated by the Russian Federation during its ongoing unlawful invasion of Ukraine. Russia must cease hostilities and abide by international law, including ensuring the protection of civilians, PHR said today.   Early reports of a ballistic […]

In its violent and unlawful invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has launched indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian targets, including hospitals, schools, and humanitarian corridors. Hundreds of civilians, including children, have been killed and many more injured, and thousands are in danger of dying in besieged areas cut off from water, food, and electricity. […]

This post originally appeared on the Early Warning Project’s blog. In the last few months of 2015, Christine Mehta traveled to Ukraine several times as part of a delegation tasked with assessing Ukraine’s forensic capacity and political willingness to investigate human rights violations related to the conflict, such as torture, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and […]

This post originally appeared on Open Society Voices. There is a cemetery in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, where 156 unnamed soldiers are buried. “There are some we can’t identify,” said Irina Fedorchuk, the director of the Regional State Administration in Dnepropetrovsk. “Their bones turn to ash when you touch them. There is no DNA to extract.” Fedorchuk’s […]

As the dust settles in Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, with an agreement between the government and opposition groups, many questions remain. Will there be an independent investigation into the government’s tactics to put down the protests, including the reported use of snipers, which violate the principles on use of force? Did the government use […]