People living in conflict-affected areas face constant threats to their safety and well-being, and are often cut off from basic needs like food, health care, and water. They also face obstacles to securing truth, justice, and accountability for harms perpetrated against them.
The Human Rights Institute (HRI) partners with advocates and rightsholders around the world to investigate and expose harms that occur as a result of armed conflict and violence, excessive use of force by police, and military or counterterrorism operations. We seek to deter future harms by pursuing transparency and accountability for violations. Additionally, we work to advance peace and justice using innovative factfinding methods.
Throughout the world, governments and non-state actors threaten people’s lives and livelihoods. Police forces undermine the right to expression and injure or kill protestors, and government forces and armed groups conduct military campaigns that result in grave human rights abuses.
In particular, global campaigns launched in the name of eliminating terrorism have eroded basic civil and political rights protections, perpetuated ongoing conflict, and devastated families and communities. Security forces and armed groups often work covertly and operate with impunity.
Millions are killed in conflicts globally, and victims are often buried—without identification or investigation—in clandestine mass graves, pits, and informal grave sites. Few investigations are conducted to identify and recover the victims’ remains, produce evidence for accountability processes, and support families seeking answers.
HRI works to address entrenched impunity and abuse in armed conflict by working closely with partners to investigate abuses, conduct open-source research on perpetrators, advocate for transparency with government actors, and pursue international accountability. We develop strategies based on the priorities of advocates working in countries most impacted by these abuses, and we center our work around their expertise and experience.
