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Breaking news and updates on human rights in the U.S. and around the world

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A crowd of people, mostly wearing black, fills a street in a dark, foggy night. Two men climb what appears to be a scaffold or a light pole that hangs over the street. A fire burns.
(Mamlekate)

Press Release

Iran: End Escalating Campaign of Arbitrary Executions and Death Sentences Against Protesters

At least 60 people are at risk of execution in Iran following executions of 5 people in the last two weeks.

July 28, 2026

(NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Press Release

Iran: Lack of International Justice Six Months After January Protest Massacres Risks Further Atrocity Crimes

The Iranian authorities have faced no consequences for unlawfully using intentional lethal force on a mass scale to crush and punish dissent.

July 7, 2026

city with smoke from bombing
(ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)

Press Release

U.S.-Iran Deal Must Center Human Rights and Region Must See Real and Sustainable End to Hostilities

A framework agreement that temporarily halts fighting but ignores human rights risks becoming a shield behind which impunity, occupation and…

June 18, 2026

A large black and white tanker ship sits in a harbor, the side reads STENA IMPERATIVE, IMO MAX, and STENA BULK.
(Ruud Coster/Vesselfinder)

Press Release

Iran: Deadly Drone Strikes on Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Should Be Investigated as War Crimes - New Research

Iranian air strikes killed and injured civilians in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in violation of international humanitarian law.

June 17, 2026

A uniformed soldier stands behind a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of a truck, overseeing a busy city street beneath a large billboard showing Iranian military figures capturing western fighter jets with a net.

Press Release

Iran: Mass Arbitrary Arrests and Political Executions Mark Intensifying Repression

Iranian authorities are using the cover of what they call “wartime conditions” to intensify their repression of dissent.

May 28, 2026

bomb in Iran's night sky
(Getty)

Press Release

200 Organizations and Experts Call for an End to Trump’s Threats of War Crimes and Commit to Pursuing Accountability

A threat to wipe out “a whole civilization” may amount to a threat of genocide.

April 7, 2026

Trump speaking to a crowd, press conference
(Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)

Press Release

Iran: President Trump’s Apocalyptic Threats of Large-Scale Civilian Devastation Demand Urgent Global Action to Prevent Atrocity Crimes

President Trump’s threats, coupled with escalating USA and Israeli attacks destroying civilian infrastructure, are terrorizing millions of people in Iran…

April 7, 2026

(Akharinkhabar)

Press Release

Iran: Recruitment of Child Soldiers as Young as 12 Amounts to a War Crime

The Iranian authorities are shamelessly encouraging children as young as 12 to join an IRGC run military campaign.

April 2, 2026

A white brick building with barbed wire and a sign written in Farsi.
(Private)

Press Release

Iran: Seven Protesters and Dissidents at Risk of Imminent Execution after Four Men Arbitrarily Executed in Secret Within 24 Hours

Iran must immediately halt all executions and establish a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

March 31, 2026

Rubble from a recently bombed building
(Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Press Release

Israel: Iran’s Missile Strike That Killed Nine Civilians ‘Must Be Investigated as a War Crime’

A missile strike by Iran’s authorities on the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh that killed nine civilians must be investigated…

March 31, 2026

power lines, Iran
(Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Press Release

USA/Iran: Trump’s Warning That USA Will Attack Iran’s Power Plants Is a Threat to Commit War Crimes

President Trump must immediately retract these dangerous threats and commit the U.S. to upholding international humanitarian law.

March 24, 2026

Graves dug for children killed in deadly strike school in Minab. (
(AFP Photo/Iranian Press Center)

Press Release

USA/Iran: Those Responsible for Deadly and Unlawful U.S. Strike on School that Killed Over 100 Children Must Be Held Accountable

The U.S. violated international humanitarian law by failing to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm.

March 16, 2026