A Democratic Ukraine Must Include All LGBTQ+ People

A Democratic Ukraine Must Include All LGBTQ+ People

Monday, July 18, 2022

By: ;  Julia Schiwal

As Ukraine fights for survival, it has relaxed some barriers to the social inclusion of gay, lesbian and other gender and sexual minorities—for example, welcoming some gay people into its armed forces. Yet this change should be expanded and made permanent. Often countries recruit marginalized minorities during wartime emergencies only to revive old practices of exclusion in peacetime. The more inclusive democracy that Ukraine aspires to, and that its transatlantic allies support bringing into full membership of Europe, will require transformations in laws, institutions and social norms for the equal inclusion of Ukrainian gender and sexual minorities.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights

How Documentation Is Critical to Exposing China’s Abuses of the Uyghurs

How Documentation Is Critical to Exposing China’s Abuses of the Uyghurs

Thursday, July 14, 2022

By: Lauren Baillie;  Rachel Vandenbrink

This month, U.S. companies are scrambling to comply with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) that went into effect three weeks ago, ensuring they have no goods in their supply chains made through the forced labor of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority. Here we see an important example of how far efforts have come to document abuses against Uyghurs and other minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). Documentation efforts including journalistic reporting, investigative work by human rights researchers, and the collection and preservation of witness testimony by NGOs have each played an important role in exposing abuses and linking them to official responsibility in China, laying the foundation for countries like the United States to respond with concrete policy changes such as the UFLPA.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsJustice, Security & Rule of Law

A Ripe Moment for Building Peace by Promoting International Religious Freedom

A Ripe Moment for Building Peace by Promoting International Religious Freedom

Monday, June 27, 2022

By: Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.;  Knox Thames

In late June and early July, two global convenings will highlight challenges to international religious freedom and the search for solutions: the IRF Summit for nongovernmental organizations and the International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief. These timely gatherings will bring together government representatives, activists and faith leaders from different religious, regional and political backgrounds to discuss a common goal of ending persecution. Two keys for their success will be creating diverse coalitions to advance international religious freedom (IRF) in a nonpartisan manner and linking the issue to broader concerns about peace and stability. 

Type: Analysis

Human RightsReligion

Russia’s War Has Created a Human Trafficking Crisis, Says U.N. Envoy

Russia’s War Has Created a Human Trafficking Crisis, Says U.N. Envoy

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

By: Ashish Kumar Sen

The humanitarian crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine is rapidly turning into a human trafficking one in which women and children, who make up the majority of the refugees fleeing the war, are being exploited, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten. She said there is an urgent need for a “coordinated regional approach” to what she described as “a crisis within a crisis.”

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman Rights

The Ukraine War is Deepening Global Food Insecurity — What Can Be Done?

The Ukraine War is Deepening Global Food Insecurity — What Can Be Done?

Monday, May 16, 2022

By: Dr. Arif Husain

Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, the global economy was suffering from the repercussions of several man-made conflicts, climate shocks, COVID-19 and rising costs — with devastating consequences for poor people in low-income and developing countries. The war in Ukraine — a major “breadbasket” for the world — is deepening these challenges on an unprecedented scale. In the immediate, swift and bold action is required by both wealthy and low-income nations to avert further humanitarian and economic catastrophe.

Type: Analysis

EconomicsEnvironmentGlobal HealthHuman Rights

How the Taliban’s Hijab Decree Defies Islam

How the Taliban’s Hijab Decree Defies Islam

Thursday, May 12, 2022

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Mohammad Osman Tariq

The Taliban continued this week to roll back Afghan women’s rights by decreeing women must be fully covered from head to toe — including their faces — to appear in public. This follows decrees limiting women’s ability to work, women’s and girls’ access to education and even limiting their freedom of movement. Afghan women are rapidly facing the worst-case scenario many feared when the Taliban took over last summer. While the Taliban justify these moves as in accordance with Islam, they are, in fact, contradicting Islamic tradition and Afghan culture as the group looks to resurrect the full control they had over women and girls when they ruled in the 1990s.

Type: Analysis

GenderHuman RightsReligion

Al-Hol: Displacement Crisis is a Tinderbox that Could Ignite ISIS 2.0

Al-Hol: Displacement Crisis is a Tinderbox that Could Ignite ISIS 2.0

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

By: Mona Yacoubian

More than three years after ISIS’s territorial defeat, the vexing challenge of displacement threatens to provoke the rise of ISIS 2.0 if not adequately addressed. The May 11 Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS ministerial meeting in Marrakech, Morocco highlights these concerns over the evolving threat the so-called Islamic State still poses. The Marrakech meeting coincides with both growing disquiet at deteriorating humanitarian and security conditions in the al-Hol displacement camp in northeast Syria — ground zero for the ISIS-related displacement crisis — and some hope for a path forward.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsViolent Extremism

Intolerance of Atrocity Crimes in Ukraine Should Apply to Afghanistan

Intolerance of Atrocity Crimes in Ukraine Should Apply to Afghanistan

Thursday, April 28, 2022

By: Belquis Ahmadi;  Kate Bateman;  Scott Worden

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has caused massive loss of life and destruction of property, forcing millions to seek refuge in neighboring countries. There is mounting evidence that the Russian military has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, intentionally attacking Ukrainian civilians. The urgent attention that Western countries have given to Russian war crimes and other atrocities in Ukraine has the potential to provide some accountability for gross violations of human rights as well as to shore up a faltering framework of international human rights law.

Type: Analysis

Human RightsJustice, Security & Rule of LawGlobal Policy

Will the Ukraine War Renew Global Commitments to the International Criminal Court?

Will the Ukraine War Renew Global Commitments to the International Criminal Court?

Thursday, April 28, 2022

By: Lauren Baillie

The international response to Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the highest level of support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) since its creation 20 years ago. Forty-three states parties to the Rome Statute, the ICC’s foundational treaty, have referred the conflict to the Court for investigation. States — both state parties and non-state parties to the Rome Statute — have stepped up to support investigative efforts through financial resources and intelligence.

Type: Analysis

Global PolicyHuman RightsJustice, Security & Rule of Law