Lawyers for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya say the Palestinian physician is facing grave illness and abuse inside Israel detention. Dr. Nahreen Ahmed traveled to Gaza and worked alongside Dr. Abu Safiya in Gaza. She was moved by his unwavering dedication to his patients as director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital. “He was able to find […]

When clinicians, scientists, lawyers, and advocates in our global network come together around a shared commitment to use expertise in service of justice, the truth cannot be silenced.

Care in the Crosshairs: Violence Against Health Care in Conflict in 2025, released today by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), documents 2,546 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care across 33 countries in 2025, including 790 incidents where hospitals were damaged or destroyed and 455 health workers killed. International humanitarian law […]

As Ethiopia prepares to hold parliamentary and regional elections on Monday, June 1, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH) warned that the vote is taking place amid growing instability, escalating repression, and ongoing humanitarian and human rights crises across the country. Drone strikes and attacks against civilian infrastructure in Amhara, reports of a health system near collapse due to a […]

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) submission to the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights for the Draft General Comment on the Application of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Situations of Armed Conflict (May 2026)

Ten years after the UNSC passed Resolution 2286 and committed to protect health care in conflict zones, combatants have attacked health care at least 18,000 times around the world – with attack totals on the rise each year. On this decade anniversary, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) calls on the UN Secretary-General and UN Member […]

The war between the United States, Israel, and Iran has continued to escalate over more than a month, with impacts expanding across the region and beyond. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Human Rights, and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War renew our call for an immediate end to all fighting and a return to negotiations for […]

PHR leadership and staff recently presented key findings and evidence at the 61st Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva. The team delivered several statements before the Council, partnered with other NGOs to amplify findings about the impact of attacks on health, and met with states and other partners about ongoing […]

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which began in 2014 before escalating into a full-scale invasion in 2022, has been marked by widespread and systematic violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. On the frontlines and across occupied territories, places of detention, and areas affected by hostilities, these violations have fallen on civilians and […]

As the military conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States escalates and spreads across the Middle East, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) calls on all parties to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including by protecting medical personnel and health facilities from attack and ensuring health care can function unimpeded.   “We are hearing alarming reports of health care […]

New testimonies from physicians inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, shared with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), add to mounting evidence from health care professionals about the scale and severity of the recent nationwide crackdown, which many observers describe as the most violent in the country’s recent history, including the 1979 Revolution.  “The doctors we’ve heard from are exhausted […]

Recent accounts of escalating conflicts across Ethiopia, including drone strikes, heavy fighting, and extrajudicial killings, risk causing immediate and severe health harms to affected communities, including a recurrence of widespread sexual and reproductive violence, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH).  Renewed clashes […]

With the four-year mark of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaching on February 24, following over a decade of ongoing war, sustained attacks on health care continue driving widespread physical and mental harm across the country.  In 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion, attacks on health care became one of the most visible symbols […]

The Islamic Republic of Iran must immediately stop the persecution, physical harm, and detention of all medical professionals who are reportedly being targeted for treating people injured during the recent protests, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today. “Evidence coming out of Iran points to tens of thousands of protesters killed or injured, many by […]

Executive Summary After Hamas’ brutal October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, subsequent Israeli military operations in Gaza have caused devastation and displacement. Beginning early in the conflict, humanitarian actors and civil society raised significant concerns about the likely impact on the health and survival of pregnant women1 and infants – two groups granted specific protection […]

Any proposal for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine must include accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today. Instead, the proposed 28-point peace plan’s offer of amnesty to perpetrators encourages further violations and betrays victims and survivors.  “When accountability is treated as essential rather than optional, societies emerging […]

Israel must immediately lift its restrictions on food to some 2 million people in Gaza –  including the entire population of 320,000 children under the age of five – and ensure the delivery of medical supplies and other aid necessary to address mass starvation, said Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic […]

Ukraine has endured 2000 attacks on the country’s health care system, according to documentation and monitoring by human rights and humanitarian organizations. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 Ukraine has experienced:  “This brutal milestone and pattern of attacks clearly illustrates the Russian Federation’s aim to eliminate Ukrainians’ access to life-saving medical care and create […]

The Israeli government’s restrictions on medical supplies entering Gaza have led to preventable suffering and death, according to a new study published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Global Human Rights Clinic (GHRC) at the University of Chicago Law School.   “Throughout this war, Israel’s limits on life-saving medical supplies – such as […]

At every point in their effort to provide care in Gaza, volunteer health care professionals face systematic practices and policies that directly impact their ability to prevent suffering and loss.

PHR’s 2024 Annual Report captures our work and impact for health, human rights, and justice around the world.

The following quote is attributable to Houssam al-Nahhas, MD, MPH, health and human rights researcher for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and a Syrian physician:  “The new Syrian government’s establishment of a National Transitional Justice Commission and a National Commission for the Missing represents key steps forward for survivors and families of the victims of […]

*This press release is cross-posted from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC), of which PHR is a Steering Committee Member. GENEVA – In 2024, attacks on health care in conflict reached the highest level ever recorded since the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC) began reporting over a decade ago. The SHCC’s new report – Epidemic of Violence […]

Executive Summary Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), have documented widespread, systematic and deliberate conflict related sexual violence (CRSV) in the Tigray region. Evidence gathered by PHR and OJAH, through a systematic review of medical records, shows that CRSV was used as a […]

The Myanmar military junta’s years of unlawful attacks on healthcare facilities and health workers have severely hindered the emergency response to the devastating earthquake on March 28, 2025, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights said today. A month after the earthquake, the junta has continued to obstruct access to life-saving services in opposition-held […]