human rights

Farmworkers wearing hats gather spinach from a field.

As temperatures heat up, farmworkers across the US push for more rights

Millions of farmworkers across the US work under inhumane climate conditions, and are now pushing for more protections.

As temperatures heat up, farmworkers across the US push for more rights
The stories of women ostracized by their family and community after being wrongly accused of witchcraft can be heard on a new album called "I've forgotten now who I used to be." 

New album lifts up the voices of ostracized women in northern Ghana’s ‘witch camps’

New album lifts up the voices of ostracized women in northern Ghana’s ‘witch camps’
Children play in a mud puddle in the section for foreign families at Al-Hol camp in Hasakeh province, Syria on March 31, 2019.

Thousands of children are stranded at a camp in northern Syria. Who will repatriate them?

Thousands of children are stranded at a camp in northern Syria. Who will repatriate them?
A woman dresses a girl at a shelter, surrounded by luggage and clothes

Immigration judges say Sessions’ decision makes it harder for people facing ‘life and death’ to win asylum in US

Immigration judges say Sessions’ decision makes it harder for people facing ‘life and death’ to win asylum in US
Mohamed Zaree giving a talk with the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies in Egypt.

Meet the winner of the ‘Nobel for human rights’ that Egypt doesn’t want you to know about

Meet the winner of the ‘Nobel for human rights’ that Egypt doesn’t want you to know about
An asylum-seeker from Uganda covers his face with a paper bag in order to protect his identity as he marches with the LGBT Asylum Support Task Force during the Gay Pride Parade in Boston, Massachusetts, June 8, 2013.

Uganda's other refugee crisis

Uganda has been celebrated in recent years for its generosity toward those fleeing violence, especially South Sudanese refugees. But state-sponsored discrimination and social intolerance have forced many gay, lesbian and transgender Ugandans to seek asylum outside the country.

Uganda's other refugee crisis
Protesters gather to condemn the killing of university student Mashal Khan, after he was accused of blasphemy, during a protest in Peshawar, Pakistan, April 20, 2017.

Pakistanis say their government has 'weaponized' its blasphemy law

The lynching of a 23-year-old university student accused of blasphemy in Pakistan drew international condemnation in April. But pro-democracy and human rights activists say Mashal Khan's killing is part of a much bigger problem.

Pakistanis say their government has 'weaponized' its blasphemy law
Brides sit together during a mass wedding ceremony in Peshawar, Pakistan, April 25, 2014.

Pakistan cracks down on men trading young daughters to settle debts and disputes

In central Pakistan, local elder councils sometimes force underage girls into arranged marriages as remediation for civil disputes. The practice is known as "vani," and human rights workers worry it's on the rise. But there’s hope that a new civil mediation system approved this year by the Pakistani government could help.

Pakistan cracks down on men trading young daughters to settle debts and disputes
Two men in suits walking down New York steet

Mr. Trump, I would be dead today if this country had not let me in

Luis Mancheno came to the US to escape violence. He wants our new president to know what that means, and what hope that in the promise of the United States can offer to refugees.

Mr. Trump, I would be dead today if this country had not let me in
Guengueng

How this torture survivor from Chad made good on 'a pact with God'

Souleymane Guengueng, at home in the Bronx, once helped imprison a brutal former president of Chad. Now, he hopes to teach others how he did it.

How this torture survivor from Chad made good on 'a pact with God'
Morning circle time with Aya Hijazi and some of the children the group works with outside the Belady Foundation.

In Egypt, even helping street children can land you in prison

American-Egyptian Aya Hijazi and her husband have been in Egyptian prison for almost 1,000 days. Rights groups are concerned the US government will stop pressuring Egypt on the case after Donald Trump takes office.

In Egypt, even helping street children can land you in prison
FIFA's newly elected president Gianni Infantino poses with the Qatar Workers Cup trophy in Doha, Qatar, April 22, 2016.

Would FIFA really pull soccer’s World Cup from Qatar if human rights abuses there continue?

Soccer's governing body FIFA asked Harvard professor John Ruggie for guidelines on how to handle human rights issues. The big question now is whether FIFA follows his recommendations.

Would FIFA really pull soccer’s World Cup from Qatar if human rights abuses there continue?
Activists of the radical Islamist party Hefajat-e-Islam in Bangladesh demanding capital punishment for a group of bloggers in 2013.

Who just killed the man some called 'the Harvey Milk of Bangladesh'?

Men wielding machetes hacked to death the founder of the only LGBT magazine in Bangladesh on Monday.

Who just killed the man some called 'the Harvey Milk of Bangladesh'?
Lutz Bachmann, co-founder of Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA), waits in a courtroom for his trial to be charged with incitement over Facebook posts in a court in Dresden, Germany, April 19, 2016.

German far-right leader on trial for a Facebook post comparing refugees to cattle

Lutz Bachmann is the leader of Pegida, an anti-Islam, anti-immigrant political movement in Germany. And his opinions on refugees have him in trouble with the law.

German far-right leader on trial for a Facebook post comparing refugees to cattle
Manzanar

Freedom From Fear: An art project captures a struggle immortalized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

For Setsuko Winchester, a Japanese American, the idea of freedom from fear is deeply personal. So she used it as the inspiration for an art project.

Freedom From Fear: An art project captures a struggle immortalized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights