How to Achieve Accountability for Atrocities in Ukraine

How to Achieve Accountability for Atrocities in Ukraine

Thursday, April 21, 2022

By: Lauren Baillie

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in a remarkable alignment of international actors supporting accountability processes. The international community — states, regional bodies, civil society and the U.N. — has provided funding and expertise to the Ukrainian government and launched documentation and evidence collection efforts, fact-finding missions and criminal investigations into Russia’s invasion and the crimes committed against Ukrainian civilians. The progress made to date stands to advance the rights of Ukrainians and other vulnerable communities faced with aggressive state action. Moving forward, this united effort will require the coordination, creativity and sustained political will to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable, and that justice is delivered to victims.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsJustice, Security & Rule of LawGlobal Policy

El Salvador necesita soluciones a largo plazo para poner fin a los ciclos de violencia

El Salvador necesita soluciones a largo plazo para poner fin a los ciclos de violencia

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

By: Mary Speck, Ph.D.

El gobierno de El Salvador reaccionó con dureza ante un reciente aumento en los homicidios al imponer un Estado de emergencia y detener a miles de presuntos pandilleros. La historia reciente sugiere que la aplicación de la ley por sí sola no puede resolver el problema sin tener programas integrales de prevención, intervención y rehabilitación de pandillas en comunidades marginadas. Mary Speck de USIP analiza la violencia en El Salvador y cómo el país puede reducir el crimen sin dejar de respetar los derechos humanos.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsJustice, Security & Rule of Law

El Salvador Needs Long-Term Solutions to End Cycles of Violence

El Salvador Needs Long-Term Solutions to End Cycles of Violence

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

By: Mary Speck, Ph.D.

The government of El Salvador reacted harshly to a recent spike in homicides by imposing a state of emergency and rounding up thousands of suspected gang members. Recent history suggests that law enforcement alone cannot solve the problem without comprehensive gang prevention, intervention and rehabilitation programs in marginalized communities. USIP’s Mary Speck discusses violence in El Salvador and how the country can reduce crime while still respecting human rights.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsJustice, Security & Rule of Law

Religious Mobilization in Ukraine

Religious Mobilization in Ukraine

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

By: Denis Brylov;  Tetiana Kalenychenko

Even prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, religious relations between the two countries have often mirrored the long-simmering geopolitical tensions surrounding Ukrainian independence and autonomy. Russia’s previous annexation of Crimea and its intervention in Donbas had already provoked the creation of a united Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU) by uniting the Ukrainian Autocephalous Church and Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate. The newly created OCU represented a direct threat to Russia’s official domination of Orthodox Christianity in Ukraine via the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP).

Type: Analysis

ReligionHuman Rights

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Helps the Taliban and Makes Afghans Worse Off

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Helps the Taliban and Makes Afghans Worse Off

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

By: Scott Worden

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an acute disaster for Ukraine and Europe. But it also has a profound geopolitical impact — one that will have ripple effects for the major humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan. An active war in Europe is bad news for Afghanistan, as this draws away resources, sympathy and attention from the millions of Afghans that are also struggling to get cash, food and protection from human rights abuse. And the Taliban stand to benefit, since they no longer appear to be the world’s most notorious aggressor and will gain political space to consolidate their control over the country.  

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionGlobal PolicyHuman Rights

Support Humanitarian Corridors and a Humanitarian Pause in Ukraine

Support Humanitarian Corridors and a Humanitarian Pause in Ukraine

Friday, March 4, 2022

By: Heather Ashby, Ph.D.

As Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its second week, the world is witnessing a mounting humanitarian disaster as civilians attempt to leave the country for safety and refuge. Images of indiscriminate Russian airstrikes and the dead bodies of soldiers and civilians are flooding social media and the internet throughout the world.

Type: Analysis

Conflict Analysis & PreventionHuman Rights

U.S. Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics: No Longer 'Business as Usual'

U.S. Diplomatic Boycott of Beijing Olympics: No Longer 'Business as Usual'

Thursday, December 9, 2021

By: Lauren Baillie;  Mirna Galic;  Rachel Vandenbrink

On Monday the Biden administration announced it would not send an official United States delegation to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games as a statement against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang," as well as other human rights abuses such as in Hong Kong. U.S. athletes will still be allowed to compete in the Games, which start in February. USIP’s Lauren Baillie, Mirna Galic and Rachel Vandenbrink discuss the rationale behind the decision, how the boycott fits into the U.S. strategy surrounding the Uyghur crisis and how China and U.S. allies are responding.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyHuman Rights

Myanmar’s Ongoing War Against Women

Myanmar’s Ongoing War Against Women

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

By: Kathleen Kuehnast, Ph.D.;  Gabriela Sagun

When the United Nations began its annual campaign to end violence against women 30 years ago, no one had Myanmar on their radar. But in recent years, Myanmar’s military has escalated its use of sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize women and girls — most infamously against ethnic minorities, notably the Rohingya. Confronted by these atrocities, the international community has issued widespread demands for accountability and justice that have yet to come to fruition.  

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights

Unrealized Ideal: 40 Years After a Seminal Declaration on Religious Freedom

Unrealized Ideal: 40 Years After a Seminal Declaration on Religious Freedom

Monday, November 29, 2021

By: Knox Thames

Anniversaries serve as natural inflection points, opportunities for introspection, to take stock and to consider where to go next. November 25 marked the 40th anniversary of the 1981 U.N. Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. Despite its unwieldy name, the aim was simple: to promote freedom of religion or belief and condemn discrimination based on faith. The 1981 Declaration was a culmination of almost four decades of U.N. efforts to develop international legal protections for freedom of belief to defend minorities from persecution. Forty years later, however, almost two-thirds of humanity live in countries with restrictions on the practice of faith. 

Type: Analysis

ReligionHuman Rights