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Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon are establishing their own autonomous territorial governments to protect their land and resources. Olivia Bisa, the president of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation, has faced threats and persecution for her activism against illegal economic activities and oil spills in her territory. These autonomous territorial governments represent a new model of territorial governance, aiming to protect their territories and resist extractive activities driven by the state. However, they face challenges in gaining recognition from the Peruvian government and conventional Indigenous organizations. Adriana Castro, a lawyer with expertise in Public International Law, has studied this issue. [Extracted from the article]

Research on the relationship between contentious action and news production has often focused on the coverage and framing of specific events, not on the careers of keywords of the protest lexicon itself. However, these keywords play a central role in the negotiation of common understandings of social problems, the legitimation of claims and tactics, and even the shared imaginary of grassroots politics within communities of readers. This article seeks to contribute to this second avenue of media research by studying use of the concept activism and associated subject, activists. I ask how this word, which was a negative term for most of the twentieth century until the introduction and popularization of its modern sense in the 1960s, became a keyword of modern political participation by the public. A conceptual history grounded in insights of distributional semantics and semantic field theory, this article studies patterns of use of 'activist' and 'activism' in two major British quality newspapers, The Guardian and The Times. This comparative approach aims to identify both historical and media-internal factors that contributed to activism becoming a meaningful category in news reporting. Coverage is compared for three episodes of heightened civic contention: the student protests of 1967–1969; Eastern European human rights activism around the Helsinki Accords, 1975–1977; and the industrial strikes of the 1980s, particularly the period around the miner's strike, 1984–1986. • Operationalizes the sociological concept "protest lexicon" to study newspaper communication. • Theorizes the role of keywords in the negotiation of mass media messaging and legitimation. • Provides a conceptual history and reputational career of the keyword "activism". • Combines quantitative and qualitative discourse analysis methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the limited engagement of human rights scholars with the policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. It critiques the book "States of Exception: Human Rights, Biopolitics, Utopia" by Costas Douzinas for its disorganized nature and failure to address key dilemmas. The book argues for a radical re-arrangement of society and questions the sufficiency of human rights for achieving justice. However, it is criticized for not addressing the trade-offs between freedom and security, lacking a coherent theory on the relationship between human rights and the state, and having contradictory views on immigration, asylum, and the right to protest. The article suggests that these conceptual weaknesses undermine the practical effectiveness of human rights. [Extracted from the article]

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Ambedkar henceforth) is not merely known as the chief architect of the Indian constitution, social activist, philosopher, and social reformer but also as a great human rights defender in India. His idea and vision of human rights have been referencing points for creating an egalitarian society and formulating social policies. Despite his strong vision, teaching, and philosophy about an equal and just society, the pedagogy of social work is underutilized in social work education. His ideas of human rights were enshrined in the Indian constitution which even prevented marginalized social groups such as Dalit (Dalits are ex-untouchable caste group who live at the bottom in Indian social structure), tribal, and women from exploitation and protect their human rights. We argue that Ambedkar’s strong vision for a just and egalitarian society, and his rights and policy-based framework are key human rights features to introduce in the curriculum of social work education within India and outside India. This will not merely equip social work professionals to be better human rights defenders but also equip them significantly to contribute to creating a just and equal society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides state actors, non-state actors and particularly private companies target human rights defenders (HRDs) and violate their rights to intimidate and stop them from challenging their interests. Despite the absence of responsibility of non-state actors in international human rights law, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) set out global standards and acknowledge the role of HRDs in the promotion of human rights, urging corporations to work closely with defenders. Considering the effectiveness of the UNGPs, the article explores the potential for protecting HRDs within the framework and concludes that the UNGPs could be utilised to enhance the protection of defenders in relation to business activities. It also suggests that current efforts of implementation would be strengthened by mandatory human rights due diligence laws at the national and regional levels, and emphasises that a clear inclusion of corporate responsibility to respect defenders is required, as it would be beneficial for both sides, defenders and business enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, human rights activists have constituted political agenda-setting groups in the Maghreb countries, mainly following the international turn towards human rights in the post-Cold War decades. Despite this fact, only scarce attention has been paid to their social and professional background. The article explores this topic and provides hitherto unpublished data about the first generation of human rights activists in Tunisia, in particular the members of the Tunisian Human Rights League (LTDH). Its members were a product of post-colonial Tunisia’s investment in (higher) education, teachers and professors, white-collar public servants, lawyers, doctors and journalists. They formed a committed, intellectual elite concerned with relationship between the state and citizens, seeking to influence public policies, carve out public, independent political spaces and get a share in the management of state affairs. Factual evidence surrounding human rights activists in Morocco and Algeria suggests they shared the same characteristics as LTDH members. Given the human rights situation in the Maghreb countries, the article suggests more research should be done about how human rights activists could more effectively link-up up with moral activism of social–professional groups that are absent from the human rights organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human rights activists worldwide rely heavily on naming and shaming rights‐abusing states at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to induce them to comply with international human rights norms. However, what about national‐level actors who seek to shame a government for complying with human rights? This article explores how Sinhala Buddhist ethnonationalist political leaders and ideologues in Sri Lanka invoked the trope of sovereignty as both autonomy and masculinity to shame the new United Front government (2015‐19) and its UN‐supported transitional justice programme designed to address war crimes committed by the state during the last phase of the civil war. In so doing, I draw on and contribute to the literature on shame and global governance and feminist and critical scholarship on sovereignty and masculinity. Moreover, this analysis contends that it is not possible to understand the logic and efficacy of these tropes in postwar Sri Lanka unless we consider the emergence of a hegemonic, anti‐Western, patriotic masculinity and a new idiom of honour that supplements the concept of lajja‐baya (shame and fear of shame) – a central category in the anthropological canon of Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Globally, stark inequities exist in access to HIV treatment and prevention. The eastern European and central Asian region is experiencing the sharpest rise in new HIV acquisition and deaths in the world, with low rates of treatment and prevention services, especially for key and vulnerable populations who face a range of human rights‐related barriers to HIV prevention and treatment. Methods: An implementation learning evaluation approach was used to examine the implementation of the Breaking Down Barriers initiative targeting key and vulnerable populations in Ukraine. Between September 2022 and April 2023, researchers conducted 23 key informant interviews with individuals from the Ukrainian government, implementing organizations and human rights experts. Using a concurrent triangulation design, researchers and key informants, in a process of co‐creation, sought to describe programme accomplishments, challenges and innovations in implementation, between 2021 and 2023, including periods before and after Russia's February 2022 full‐scale invasion. Results: Eight rights‐based interventions related to HIV were identified in Global Fund programme documents and key informant interviews as making up the core of the Breaking Down Barriers initiative in Ukraine. These included programmes seeking to: eliminate stigma and discrimination; ensure the non‐discriminatory provision of medical care; promote rights‐based law enforcement practices; expand legal literacy ("know your rights"); increase access to justice; improve laws, regulations and policies; reduce gender discrimination, harmful gender norms and violence against women and girls; and mobilize communities for advocacy. These programmes received US$5.9 million in funding. Key informants reported that significant progress had been made addressing human rights barriers and scaling up interventions, both before and after Russia's invasion. Programme implementors adopted innovative approaches, including using paralegals, hotlines and other community‐led interventions, to ensure that key and vulnerable populations, including displaced individuals, were able to access prevention and care. Conclusions: An implementation learning evaluation approach examining programmes addressing human rights barriers to HIV services, designed as a process of co‐creation between researchers, programme implementors, government officials and human rights experts, can provide a robust assessment of programme outputs, outcomes and evidence of impact, despite a challenging operational environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the work of human rights defenders in 12 states in Mexico, who accompany cases of feminicides and disappearances in a context of a security crisis. Using focus group methodologies, we obtained qualitative information on their experiences. The findings indicate that current state policies, based on institutionalized feminism, fail to adequately address the diversity of women's needs. A transversal approach that considers the variety of experiences and voices of women defenders is suggested to combat gender violence more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the plight of the 'Guapinol Eight,' a group of men who were arrested, detained, and convicted by a Honduran court after defending their right to access clean water. Our analysis is situated within a broader doctrinal conversation on the gaps in the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of human rights defenders. In particular, we highlight the (lack of) effectiveness of protection mechanisms, the complex connections between activism, repression of activism and risk taking, and the usage of legal and administrative mechanisms for repression of human rights defenders. We find that the Honduran criminal justice system largely fails to protect those who speak up against unfair criminal charges, detention, and convictions, while at the same time fails to condemn private companies or individuals who retaliate against the work of human rights defenders with lawsuits, violence, or murder. In the conclusion of this paper, recommendations are made as to steps the Honduran government can take to redress past wrongs and introduce standards that comply with domestic and international law before a chilling effect ameliorates the voice of human rights in Honduras in the years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the strategies that women human rights defenders use to engage in legal mobilization and overcome gendered barriers to justice. It does so through analysis of a specific health and safety dispute involving women workers and the Republic of Korea's biggest semiconductor corporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'human rights-based approach' is common in rights and international development literature. Yet there is no single, universally agreed definition of a human rights-based approach, let alone its application to the right to health. This article uses a PRISMA-informed systematic literature review to address the question, 'What is the current status of the human rights-based approach to health in international law?' Previous reviews have described how international organizations and development donors have tackled human rights-based approaches to development generally and discussed prominent works on human rights-based approaches to health. However, this is the first review to sample the peer-reviewed literature systematically. The study revealed that authors use the terms 'human rights', 'human rights-based approach' and 'right to health' to import a raft of legal implications, or none at all. Similarly, readers may assign legal meanings to these terms, or none at all. Confusion arises because although these terms often have different meanings for authors and readers from different disciplines, this is not commonly acknowledged, and authors rarely clarify their perspectives. The author concludes that scholars should seek co-authors with human rights law or public health qualifications, as relevant. Most academic institutions research and teach health and law separately; interdisciplinary centres of excellence in health, law and human rights offer an opportunity to overcome these historical obstacles to interdisciplinary dialogue and understanding. The study and its conclusions will be of interest to legal researchers, human rights advocates, public health scholars, and advocates from other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the book "Advocacy Networks and the Responsibility to Protect: The Politics of Norm Circulation" by Šárka Kolmašová, which examines the role of individual advocates and networks in promoting and sustaining the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) as a norm in global politics. The book analyzes the practices of circulation within the R2P network, focusing on key advocates, the items they circulate, and how they communicate these items. It emphasizes the importance of agency in understanding how norms are propagated and sustained. The article also acknowledges the need to consider a wider range of R2P proponents and the role of critical voices in shaping the discourse. It addresses the balance between normative advocacy and academic critique and suggests further research on the dynamics of R2P implementation and the factors driving its rise and fall. [Extracted from the article]

Social leaders and human rights defenders (SLHRD) in Colombia have been under increasing attack for defending the rights of communities affected by violence. From 2016 to 2022, over 600 SLHRD were assassinated, resulting in a serious violation of both individual and community human rights. The media's portrayal of these attacks can shape public perceptions and influence efforts towards peacebuilding and promoting human rights. This study examines the media's framing of violence against SLHRD in Colombia between 2016 and 2020, a period marked by an escalation of violence after the signing of the 2016 peace accord between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). We analysed 1506 textual publications from seven media outlets using a lexicometric approach and identified two frames of news articles: episodic and thematic. Our findings suggest that the episodic media framing may present a simplistic and non‐political perspective of the issue, which can impede peacebuilding efforts, while the thematic frame can raise awareness of violence against SLHRD and promote human rights defence. Our study highlights the media's significant role in shaping public opinion on violence against SLHRD, offering practical implications for advocacy and activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text discusses the severe human rights crisis in El Salvador since President Nayib Bukele implemented a state of exception in 2022. The suspension of constitutional rights has resulted in mass disappearances, feminicide, and arbitrary detention targeting activists, environmental defenders, and union organizers. Human rights organizations are working to address this crisis, but the government has not provided any information or resolution regarding the detained and disappeared individuals. The most impacted communities are young adults from conflictive areas, and the poor and working-class sectors are disproportionately affected. The text explores the politicization of human rights and the challenges faced by advocates for justice and protection. The future outlook is uncertain, and international support is needed to defend human rights. Solidarity, memory, and collective action are emphasized in addressing forced disappearance. [Extracted from the article]

Human rights NGOs contribute to the formation of norms and policies around penality, and inform social understandings of what constitutes acceptable punishment. This article turns to the symbolic group-making work of human rights workers as agents who work with prisoners, and who also construct the image of the prisoner for the rest of society. I zoom in on the case of prison NGO work in Russia, a non-democratic country, and answer two questions: first, how do prison NGOs construct the image of the prisoner, and articulate their relationship with their social base and their networks of civic engagement? Second, what organizational behaviors do these articulations encourage? Drawing on 18 semi-structured interviews and observation at prison NGOs based in Moscow, the study shows that Russian NGO workers often view themselves and act as members of a middle class social movement in Russia. While NGOs tend to focus on the most economically disadvantaged and socially isolated groups in their work, the prisoners they depict when addressing the public and the press tend to represent more educated groups with higher levels of symbolic capital (political prisoners, those convicted of economic crimes, and former state employees), reflecting a desire to put prison on the middle class agenda. At the same time, prison NGO employees employ a class lens in their work with prisoners, and determine how to help prisoners based on their assessment of how the socio-economic background of the prisoner intersects with ethnicity, religion, ability/disability, region where they are serving their sentence, and region where they are from. In other words, prison NGO workers view prisoners through the resources they can accumulate using the simultaneous, intersecting dimensions of their status and their relation to other groups both in prison and outside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Starting on September 1, 2021, the state of Texas implemented a new abortion restriction referred to as Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), which prohibits abortion after approximately 6 weeks of pregnancy. Despite legal challenges, the Supreme Court declined to intervene, leaving open the possibility for future public hearings or challenges. Methods: We collected tweets containing the hashtag #TexasAbortionBan from public Twitter accounts over a 30-day period (September 1 to September 30, 2021). A total of 104,097 tweets were analyzed during this time frame. The current project employed social network analysis to study the discourse among Twitter users in relation to the #TexasAbortionBan. Results: The current project examined the top ten dominant users within the #TexasAbortionBan network. These users were classified into four groups: journalists/news organizations, activist (political/human rights activist), Internet personality/influencer, and nonprofit and non-governmental organization. The primary topics of discussion revolved around women's access to abortion care and their rights to make decisions regarding their bodies. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the Texas Abortion Ban is the harshest "heartbeat" law among all the states that implemented similar legislation in 2021, and it triggered an uproar in the political discussion. Policy Implications: The social network analysis, a computer-mediated research method, can provide valuable insights for researchers and policymakers seeking to understand a political and controversial topic, such as abortion. The Texas Abortion Ban is seen as a pavement for eventually overturning of Roe v. Wade. Understanding the discourse surrounding abortion-related topics on Twitter holds significance for women, healthcare providers, and policymakers interested in engaging in public advocacy to maintain legal abortion rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical students (NSB, NM, JDW) spearheaded revision of the policy and clinical practice for shackling incarcerated patients at Boston Medical Center (BMC), the largest safety net hospital in New England. In American hospitals, routine shackling of incarcerated patients with metal restraints is widespread—except for perinatal patients—regardless of consciousness, mobility, illness severity, or age. The modified policy includes individualized assessments and allows incarcerated patients to be unshackled if they meet defined criteria. The students also formed the Stop Shackling Patients Coalition (SSP Coalition) of clinicians, public health practitioners, human rights advocates, and community members determined to humanize the inpatient treatment of incarcerated patients. Changes pioneered at BMC led the Mass General Brigham health system to follow suit. The Massachusetts Medical Society adopted a resolution authored by the SSP Coalition, which condemned universal shackling and advocated for use of the least restrictive alternative. This will be presented to the American Medical Association in June 2024. The Coalition led a similar effort to coauthor a policy statement on the issue, which was formally adopted by the American Public Health Association in November 2023. Most importantly, in an unprecedented human rights victory, a BMC patient who was incarcerated, sedated, and intubated was unshackled by correctional officers for the purpose of preserving human dignity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing position among human rights advocates, academics and UN officials, predicting "the death of the death penalty", and forecasting that it will completely disappear soon. This article questions and problematizes this prediction, exploring the assumptions, premises and gaps that underpin the optimistic outlook. Based on analysis of abolitionist discourse, three fallacies are identified and analyzed: a progressive fallacy, assuming the death penalty is a barbaric anachronism in the "civilized" modern world and displaying a teleological belief in its demise; a classificatory fallacy, entailing defining-down the prevalence of the death penalty through the category of "de-facto abolition"; and a functional fallacy, assuming that repudiating the death penalty as a crime-fighting tool will cause its demise, overlooking its transformation into an institution serving political-symbolic functions. In concluding, I suggest viewing the global death penalty as bifurcated: dying as an ordinary law-enforcement tool, but relatively healthy as an extraordinary political symbol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous communities around the globe increasingly resort to courts to seek protection for their individual and collective rights. Not only has the use of strategic litigation by Indigenous peoples to defend their human rights been underexplored but the role of Indigenous lawyers and experts is also a blind spot. Drawing on interdisciplinary, qualitative and collaborative research with Indigenous lawyers, experts and legal activists who are involved in the legal defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala, we foreground a complex legal ethnographic landscape regarding their intergenerational legal-political battle in a society facing transition from recent mass violence and the imposition of extractive economies. This article explores how their Indigenous lawyering is rooted in their Indigenous being and embedded in Indigenous water and land ontologies. We demonstrate how these Indigenous litigators are advancing through counter-hegemonic legal practice that goes beyond dominant Euro-Western and colonial legal positivistic assumptions about human-water-life relationships embedded in a racialised neoliberal legal structure. We argue that in contrast to human rights activist lawyers, they are occupying and exercising a differentiated role, through their positionality and their non-conventional practices, as transformative connectors of worlds before the courts or political ontological knowledge brokers, without falling into romanticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this paper is examining the impact of globalization on human rights, focusing on the tragic Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh. Globalization has led to increased international trade and investment, but it has also raised concerns about its potential negative impacts on human rights, such as labor exploitation and unsafe working conditions. A qualitative case study approach was used, involving government official documents, and human rights activists' campaigns. The findings indicate that the pursuit of profit and cost reduction in a globalized economy has contributed to the erosion of labor rights in Bangladesh. The Rana Plaza collapse revealed systemic failures in safety regulations, labor law enforcement, and corporate accountability. The disaster had a devastating impact on human lives and deepened social inequalities. To mitigate the negative impacts of globalization on human rights, the study recommends to strengthen labor laws and enforcement mechanisms, promote responsible business practices and fair labor policies, enhance workers' rights to organize and bargain collectively, increase investment in worker safety and health, provide access to justice and compensation for victims of labor rights violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Human rights defenders (HRDs) fight for various human rights and address concerns related to corruption, employment, the environment, and other issues. They also challenge powerful state and private stakeholders and seek justice for human rights abuses. Therefore, HRDs are increasingly becoming targets of violent attacks and abuse with the aim of silencing them. This article begins by providing a brief definition of HRDs and then proceeds to outline the risks associated with their work in defending human rights. It also identifies the perpetrators responsible for these violations. The article categorises the types of abuses against HRDs into two main categories, with a particular focus on the widespread tactic of using the legal system to target and silence defenders in Europe, which is also emerging globally. It introduces a taxonomy of various types of violations through the legal system. By categorising the types of violations against HRDs and establishing a taxonomy to aid in identifying these tactics, the article seeks to deepen understanding and awareness of the varied abuses experienced by HRDs, as well as their deviation from human rights standards, providing a valuable resource for academics, practitioners, and defenders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When are human rights defenders at risk of being killed? Echoing research on journalist killings, we argue that a democratic context makes it easier for human rights defenders to operate and incentivizes them to continue activities and to pursue information that puts them at risk. De jure protections that defenders have may not be enforced or may not protect defenders from bad actors engaging in politically motivated murder. These factors make human rights defenders more likely to be killed by actors trying to avoid the spotlight and exposure in democratic systems than in other types of regimes. Autocratic regimes provide fewer opportunities to freely advocate for human rights and to pursue or disseminate information about human rights violations by state or non-state actors, reducing the likelihood of defender mortality. Using two new sets of cross-national data on the number of killings of human rights defenders between 1997 and 2010 and from 2014 to 2020, we find that these arguments are generally supported when controlling for other factors that affect the killing of human rights defenders, particularly in democracies with lower state capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mainstream human rights activists typically attribute the signature successes of their movement (e.g. antislavery, Gandhi, Martin Luther King) to their uncompromisingly principled stance on behalf of the weak and the exploited. Naming and shaming and ending impunity loom large in their lore. This attitude works well to recruit idealistic activists, but their moralism, legalism, and secular universalism miss the central role of the self-interest of the majority in powering the progress of human rights. A core of idealists has defined aspirational goals, but progress has depended on support from majority mass movements and reform parties that gained power through expedient compromise. The human rights enterprise is now facing fierce pushback from illiberal strongmen and populists who counter-shame the liberal order as decadent, degenerate, and threatening to deeply rooted values. Too often, contemporary rights rhetoric plays into the hands of these illiberal critics. Human Rights for Pragmatists explains how rights-based societies can recover a more accurate narrative of their past pragmatic successes, repair their tactical flaws, and withstand illiberal challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Reflections on Man," is written by Adrian Green, an artist from St Andrew, Jamaica. Green aims to create a lasting impact on viewers through his artwork, drawing inspiration from the words of Mexican poet and human rights activist César A. Cruz. He believes that art should both comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. Green's works focus on illustrating human emotions such as courage, loneliness, joy, and self-love, using portraiture to highlight these emotions. The selected pieces in this article use a minimalist approach to color, inviting the audience to contemplate their own insecurities and freedom. [Extracted from the article]

El Salvador's state of emergency has been accompanied by widespread human rights violations and will result in long-term effects on the country's democracy. President Nayib Bukele has been working to expand his executive power since he won the presidential seat in 2019. The state of emergency accelerated his pursuit of consolidating power in the state, which has led to democratic backsliding. Moreover, the rapid erosion of civil liberties and physical integrity rights has expanded the gap that victims have towards accountability and protection from the excessive use of power. Nevertheless, there is still a ray of hope. International human rights activists have been paying close attention and have been documenting the abuses under the state of emergency. Victims of physical integrity abuse can seek support from the International Criminal Court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 2017 World Health Assembly resolution on integrated cancer prevention and control provided clear guidance on creating an enabling environment for cancer care. Through a variety of mechanisms, including civil society advocacy, some countries have secured overarching legislation in the form of national cancer acts to promote equitable access and outcomes for cancer patients. In South Africa, cancer incidence is set to double by 2030; and, while existing legislative and policy frameworks do address cancer prevention and control, these are fragmented, poorly implemented and have had limited success. Methods: This study assessed the feasibility and potential impact of promulgating a dedicated national cancer act in South Africa through exploratory in-depth interviews with 25 purposively selected key informants from various stakeholder groups, including cancer survivors; legal scholars; human rights advocates; health care providers; public health specialists and academicians. Findings: Following thematic analysis, three key themes were identified: the content of a dedicated national cancer act, the socio-political leveragability of an act and accountability mechanisms that would support such an act. Conclusion: While most respondents had not considered the possibility of a dedicated national cancer act, they were open to the concept for South Africa. Concerns about widening inequities, duplication, funding and accountability would need to be addressed against the current backdrop of health inequities and limited human rights leveraging for health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Founded in 2014, the Syrian Archive is a collective of human rights activists dedicated to curating visual documentation of human rights violations and other crimes committed during the conflict in Syria. Working within the context of the Syrian Archive Digital Memory Project and building on a series of interviews which took place between 2018 and 2022 with 40 photographers and videographers based in Syria or in the diaspora, this article explores the main motivations behind Syrians' documentation of the uprising/war since 2011. It articulates the potential of this crowd-sourced archive of the uprising-war across three main spaces: its testimonial and historical, its evidentiary, and its creative value. Across all three spaces, the Digital Memory Project, and by extension this article, advocate for the creation of a space where reflections on the value of crowd-sourced archives can happen in their authors' own voices, rather than on their behalf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the uses of homophobia as a part of the Soviet repressive apparatus. It examines the case of the Lithuanian dissident, political prisoner, and human rights activist Viktoras Petkus (1928-2012), in particular, the accusation of sodomy he faced in 1978, as a part of the highly political case related to Petkus' involvement with the Lithuanian Helsinki Group. I employ the concept of political homophobia to analyse the ways that the KGB tried to destroy Petkus' reputation and defame the Lithuanian dissident movement for human rights, which the Soviet authorities perceived as particularly threatening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1983, the world ʼs first rehabilitation centre for torture victims opened in Copenhagen. Individual Chilean activists in European exile had already set up smaller psychosocial centres before. In the dictatorships of the Cono Sur and Central America, but also in other parts of the world, local human rights activists had also begun to join theory and practice of their struggle for liberation with the psychosocial care of survivors of socio-political traumatization processes. Liberation psychology, which also reached the founders of the first European centres through international solidarity, played a key role in this. The essay traces this intertwined history of liberation struggles, human rights work, international solidarity and the founding of therapy centres. From the very beginning, the fight against torture focused on the individual and social rehabilitation of survivors as well as the criminal prosecution of perpetrators. Today, however, many of the centres that have since been founded in numerous German cities have swapped this orientation for a self-image as pure care facilities. Additional political commitment focuses at best on supporting traumatized refugees in Germany. The authors therefore call for a revitalization of international solidarity partisanship in German psychosocial centres and for reconstructing their self-image of being part of the international human rights movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article addresses the issue of ethnic lobbying during the Cold War by presenting a case study of the strategies employed by the Hungarian diaspora in the West to draw attention to the situation of the large Transylvanian Hungarian population in Romania. The mistreatment of Hungarian minorities in Central and Eastern Europe had long provoked passionate but politically ineffective reactions among the Western Hungarian diaspora. After the Helsinki Conference in 1975, new transnational action groups emerged within the Hungarian diaspora, acting in the name of respect for universal human rights. The emergence of an ideologically neutral and inclusive political language allowed ethnic advocacy to become a legitimate issue for a wide range of liberal-minded actors in the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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With Russia outside the Council of Europe, the possibilities for successful litigation against the state by Russian citizens have become limited. In more ways than one, Russians made the Strasbourg court their own. Russia was among the states with the most applications against it. At the same time, victims of Russia's abuses, dissenters, and human rights defenders were among the ECtHR's main beneficiaries. Despite Russia's mixed record of compliance, the Court provided a singular avenue for accountability, and served as a catalyst for domestic mobilization. Expulsion appears to have accelerated authoritarian decline. Although it is hard to know how much stronger respect for human rights would have been had Russia remained, in the absence of European Court, human rights in Russia face massive challenges. The cost of expulsion raises questions about how human rights institutions should balance institutional legitimacy and condemnation of states with responsibility to the people living within them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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