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 […]

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 […]

“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. […]

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 […]

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)

A new complaint filed at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee accuses the Russian government of perpetrating a deliberate and deadly bombardment of a hospital in Syria. If successful, the complaint could mark the first time Russia is held to account for its violations committed during the Syrian conflict, and would be the first […]

Introduction Read the full report: English, Arabic, Russian Graphic design generously contributed by Sarah Georgakopoulos. [1] This expert report is provided to accompany a Communication submitted to the Human Rights Committee on May 1, 2024 concerning an alleged attack on a hospital in Syria – the Kafr Nabl Surgical Hospital – on May 5, 2019, […]

“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 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva concluded last week. Headed by PHR’s Executive Director Sam Zarifi, JD, LLM, the PHR delegation included Christian De Vos, JD, PhD, director of research and investigations, and Uliana Poltavets, Ukraine emergency response coordinator. The team presented several interventions before the Council, partnered […]

Nearly 1,000 reported attacks on health care workers, facilities, and other infrastructure in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) since October 7 warrant immediate investigations and accountability, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.   The World Health Organization (WHO), a United Nations agency, reports 804 attacks on health care in OPT since October 7. Insecurity […]

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 […]

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March 2011 – 13 years ago this week – the Syrian government and its Russian allies have systematically targeted health care in an attempt to break the resilience of the Syrian people and deprive them of their right to safely access medical care.  “As we mark 13 years since […]

Map of Attacks on Medical Personnel and Facilities in Syria When hospitals or health clinics are destroyed, the loss is far greater than the bricks and mortar of the buildings. Safe and protected spaces to seek routine and urgent medical attention are also lost. When medical workers are killed, the human toll is not just […]

After 10 years of war and untold suffering in Syria, the landscape for human rights, justice, and accountability looks bleak. Explore an interactive timeline of the conflict.

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 […]

The horrific attacks on civilians during the war in Israel and Gaza since October 7, including the unprecedented attacks on health care workers and facilities, demand independent verification and accountability, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. Reports of an imminent deal between Hamas and Israel to release hostages in exchange for prisoners, along with […]

Targeted and indiscriminate attacks on hospitals, with devastating impact on civilians, are a defining element of the ongoing conflicts in the Gaza Strip, Syria, and Ukraine.

In response to reports by the Palestinian Health Ministry that a strike on Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital in Gaza City has killed hundreds of civilians, the following quote is attributable to Sam Zarifi, JD, LLM, executive director at Physicians for Human Rights (PHR):  “The catastrophic strike on Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital is among the deadliest attacks on […]

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 […]