Human Rights

Human Rights

The freedom for individuals to live, work, and improve their lives without fear of violence, oppression, or discrimination is a right that applies to all human beings, regardless of their race, sex, gender, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual orientation, or other characteristic. These rights have been enshrined in treaties and constitutions around the world that bind governments to respect and protect these liberties.

The illiberal turn: Reasserting democratic values in Central and Eastern Europe

MENASource Mar 19, 2025

Inside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s diplomatic offensive with Syria’s Christians and Ismailis

By Gregory Waters

HTS’s diplomatic offensive demonstrates the leadership’s political approach, which evolved over years of engaging with the Christian and Druze communities in Idlib.
Democratic Transitions Freedom and Prosperity
The illiberal turn: Reasserting democratic values in Central and Eastern Europe

UkraineAlert Mar 6, 2025

US peace initiative can help bring Ukraine’s abducted children home

By Kristina Hook, Iuliia Hoban

Securing the return of the thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia since 2022 must play a part in the peace efforts recently initiated by US President Donald Trump, write Kristina Hook and Iuliia Hoban.
Civil Society Conflict
The illiberal turn: Reasserting democratic values in Central and Eastern Europe

New Atlanticist Feb 28, 2025

Egyptian senator: The mass displacement of Gazans will only fuel Hamas’s extremist ideology

By Mohamed Farid

Displacing Palestinians from Gaza would perpetuate cycles of violence, deepen regional instability, and undermine Israel’s security.
Conflict Human Rights

Content

Event Recap

Oct 13, 2016

The illiberal turn: Reasserting democratic values in Central and Eastern Europe

By Susan Haigh, Amelie Rausing

On October 13, 2016, the Atlantic Council’s Future Europe Initiative and Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center hosted a public conference “The Illiberal Turn?: Reasserting Democratic Values in Central and Eastern Europe.” This conference was organized in partnership with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), […]

Central Europe Civil Society

Report

Jun 27, 2016

Frozen Conflicts: A Tool Kit for US Policymakers

By Agnia Grigas

“Since the 1990s, a number of separatist movements and conflicts have challenged the borders of the states of the former Soviet Union and created quasi-independent territories under Russian influence and control,” states Agnia Grigas, a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center, in the opening of her new report, Frozen Conflicts: A […]

Conflict Crisis Management

Issue Brief

May 11, 2016

Congo blues: Scoring Kabila’s rule

By Pierre Englebert

Across Africa, leaders are tinkering with term limits and prolonging their tenures. In an increasingly unstable Central African region, Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), appears poised to be the next African leader to sidestep the relinquishing of power and the election of his successor, constitutionally mandated for November 2016. […]

Africa Civil Society

Event Recap

Apr 26, 2016

Freedom of Expression in Syria: A Discussion with Mazen Darwish

By Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East

On April 15, 2016, the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East hosted a discussion with prominent Syrian media activist Mazen Darwish on the “Freedom of Expression in Syria.” Hariri Center Acting Director, Mirette Mabrouk, moderated the discussion. Darwish opened with remarks on the upcoming Geneva peace talks and the issues of political […]

Human Rights Rule of Law
Distract Deceive Destroy

Report

Apr 5, 2016

Distract Deceive Destroy

By Maksymilian Czuperski, Eliot Higgins, Frederic Hof, Ben Nimmo, and John E. Herbst

Using digital forensic research and open source investigation methods, Distract Deceive Destroy presents the reality of Russia’s Syrian campaign.

Conflict Disinformation

Issue Brief

Mar 14, 2016

Why the Congo matters

By Gérard Prunier

With a population of almost 80 million people and unparalleled natural resources, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (the DRC or the Congo) is a country of tremendous potential—but only that. One of the most violent places on earth, its people suffer from the brutality of armed groups and political instability. Now, President Joseph Kabila’s […]

Africa Corruption
Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin's War in Ukraine

Report

Oct 15, 2015

Hiding in plain sight: Putin’s war in Ukraine

By Maksymilian Czuperski, John Herbst, Eliot Higgins, Alina Polyakova, Damon Wilson

Drawing upon open source information, Hiding in Plain Sight: Putin's War in Ukraine provides irrefutable evidence of direct Russian military involvement in eastern Ukraine.

Conflict Disinformation

Report

Aug 5, 2015

Human rights abuses in Russia-occupied Crimea

By Andrii Klymenko

The “green men” who fanned out across Crimea in early 2014, establishing control over key infrastructure and clearing the way for once-marginal political actors to seize the reins of power, were the vanguard of a forced political change that has led to grave human rights abuses across the Crimean peninsula. Firmly in control of the executive and law enforcement bodies, […]

Conflict English

Issue Brief

Apr 21, 2015

Tunisia’s new constitutional court

By Duncan Pickard

January 2014 became a milestone of Arab democracy when Tunisia adopted the first democratic Arab constitution drafted outside the influence of the military or a foreign power. In “Tunisia’s New Constitutional Court,” Duncan Pickard, a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, takes up the next step for the […]

Democratic Transitions Human Rights

Event Recap

Jun 5, 2014

Discussion with the Burkinabé minister of human rights and civil promotion

By Africa Center

In 2012, the West African nation of Burkina Faso created a Ministry for Human Rights and Civic Promotion to promote physical security, economic prosperity, and access to health and education for all Burkinabé citizens. Since its inception, the ministry has actively promoted gender equity, a focus that is consistent with Ouagadougou’s priorities: a 2009 law […]

Africa Civil Society
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Experts

Fellow

Ivan Horodyskyy

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Eastern Europe English

Fellow

Khosro Sayeh Isfahani

Former Researcher

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arms Control Civil Society

Fellow

Adrian Karatnycky

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Ukraine Democratic Transitions

Fellow

Simin Kargar

Nonresident Fellow

Digital Forensic Research Lab

Cybersecurity Disinformation

Fellow

Alexandra Lily Kather

Legal Advisor

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Human Rights International Norms

Millennium fellow

Wardah Khalid

Senior Policy Adviser, Office of Refugee Resettlement, US Department of Health and Human Services

Millennium Leadership Program

Civil Society Human Rights
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