U.S. federal law enforcement repeatedly misused rubber bullets, pepper balls, tear gas cannisters, and flash-bang grenades in harmful and dangerous ways against journalists, medics, and peaceful protestors during demonstrations in Los Angeles, California over the summer of 2025, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) argues in a new amicus brief filed in L.A. Press Club v. […]

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

Deceptively known as “less-lethal,” these weapons can in fact cause severe injuries and even death when used with excessive force. Physicians for Human Rights has worked extensively on the health impacts of these weapons and has issued the following guidance to help people seeking to exercise their right to protest prepare for, protect against, and […]

Recognizing the health harms caused by equipment capable of inflicting torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, PHR has joined organizations around the globe to call for a comprehensive treaty to end the trade of these weapons. 

Introduction In January 2015, Mr. Richard May entered a construction site in Half Moon Bay, California, with his neighbor to help retrieve the neighbor’s cat. An alarm was set off, summoning sheriff’s deputies to the site with a canine. The canine bit Mr. May, who was not resisting, fleeing, or armed, inflicting multiple puncture wounds […]

California police deployment of attack dogs has resulted in severe injuries, disfigurement, and disability, according to an expert medical opinion published by a team of clinicians with Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today. PHR calls on the California legislature to ban or strictly limit the use of police attack canines in the state. “Californians have […]

More than three years after the Black Lives Matter movement swept the United States and brought renewed attention to racial injustice, a UN human rights monitoring mechanism has issued a groundbreaking new report about excessive use of force and racism in policing. The report from the Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in […]

PHR spotlights evidence of human rights violations in the United States before one of the most wide-ranging international human rights treaties. 

“Less lethal weapons must be employed only when they are subjected to strict requirements of necessity and proportionality, and only in situations in which non-violent means have been exhausted,” said Clément Voule, United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. This week Voule highlighted the pervasive and global nature of human […]

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 […]

More than 119,000 people have been injured by tear gas and other chemical irritants during protests around the world since 2015, while at least 2,190 people have been injured by rubber bullets and other types of kinetic impact projectiles, according to a new investigation published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) and the International […]

Executive summary Public protests have surged across the world in recent years, often led by grassroots movements seeking to challenge social and economic injustices, express discontent and demand transformative change from their governments. Economic inequity led to the 2018 “Yellow Vests” protests in France, and echoes of these protests were felt in the 2019 Chile protests, the […]

In the year since George Floyd’s murder, the American public has caught glimpses of the profound traumas experienced by those who witness police violence. As medical professionals, we have seen how excessive force used by police impacts not only the people directly harmed, but also bystanders, families, and neighborhoods, long after the TV cameras are […]

In response to continued reports of excessive force being used in the Occupied Palestinian Territories resulting in injuries and deaths, and reported attacks on and denials of access to health care, Physicians for Human Rights has issued the following statement: “Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is deeply alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating situation engulfing Israel […]

Executive Summary On June 4, 2020, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) used force against protestors of police violence, arresting 263 people in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the South Bronx. Mott Haven is a predominantly Black and Latinx community that historically has experienced high rates of poverty and homelessness. Since March 2020, the […]

Overview Disorientation devices, also known as concussion grenades, flesh-bangs, or stun grenades, are weapons that create a loud explosion and/or a very bright flash of light. Originally developed as a military weapon, the use of disorientation devices in a crowd-control settings has increased significantly over the past several years. While their states objective is to […]

Overview High- or low-velocity streams of water, commonly known as water cannons, are frequently used for dispersing crowds or limiting access to certain areas. Water cannons can cause hypothermia, direct trauma from the pressurized water, secondary injury from being knocked down or colliding with objects, or injuries from chemicals and dyes dissolved in the water. […]

Overview Directed energy weapons, also known by the brand name Active Denial System, are a new technology developed by the U.S. military. This technology delivers very high-frequency millimeter-wavelength electromagnetic rays that heat skin on contact, causing a painful burning sensation. These weapons have not been used on protestors to date but are actively in development […]

Overview Acoustic weapons, also known as long-range acoustic devices and sound cannons, are devices that deliver very loud sounds over long distances. This technology is used for crowd-control purposes by emitting loud and painful levels of noise that may lead to significant harms to the ears, potentially causing hearing loss. Serious questions remain about the […]

As the United States approaches Election Day, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) hosted a discussion on Friday, October 23 on how to prepare, from a human rights and medical perspective, to respond to a range of potential election-related violence. We will share research, tools, and guidance prepared by PHR and discuss this timely issue through […]

City and state officials in the United States should review their laws, policies, and practices ahead of the November 3, 2020 general elections to ensure that they protect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, five international human rights organizations said on October 20, in letters to over 3,500 mayors and city council members throughout […]

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) and federal agents used disproportionate and excessive force against both protestors and medics at the Portland, Oregon protests in July, according to a new investigation published today by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).  The report finds that law enforcement’s deployment of crowd-control weapons and obstruction of medical care at the […]

A Physicians for Human Rights investigation conducted in Portland, OR in July 2020 examined use of force by police officers and federal agents in July 2020, including against volunteer medics and protestors.

In New York City, one of the most egregious incidents against peaceful protestors and street medics occurred on June 4, 2020 in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx.

At least 115 people suffered head injuries when law enforcement officers shot them with  kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs) during the first two months of the U.S. protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd, according to a new analysis published by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today. “Shot in the Head,”a visual investigation […]