The law is the same for everyone. Coverage of it is not.
After the Second World War, states agreed to a body of law that protects every person: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the Genocide Convention, the human rights covenants, and the courts and treaty bodies that apply them. The treaties bind the states that join them, and core rules, such as the bans on genocide and torture, bind every state. What fails is its application. Rulings are ignored, warrants go unenforced, and the same act is called a war crime when one state commits it and a "strike" when another does.
Human Rights News reads the day's news through that law, and applies it to every actor in the same words.
What we publish
Five stories a day, chosen for what the world is talking about and balanced across regions, with the weight on the Global South, on marginalised groups, and on economic, social, cultural and land rights as well as conflict.
Each story answers four questions: what happened, which rule applies, who is responsible, and what accountability exists or is missing.
A Daily Brief by email: the day's five stories in one read.
Visual explainers with each story: the law, the timeline, who holds power, how coverage framed it, and the human cost, where the record supports them.
The standard
One law, every actor. The United States, Russia, Israel, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and armed groups are held to the same rules in the same words. Corporations are measured against the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the states that host them against their treaty obligations. If we would not use a word for one actor's act, we do not use it for another's.
Findings are named, with who made them and when. A court ruling is stated as a ruling. A UN or NGO finding is attributed and dated. Where no body has ruled, we say which legal elements are met and which are not.
Official statements are claims. Every government, army and state broadcaster is quoted, attributed and tested against the record. None is taken on trust, allies included.
Facts are sourced and linked. Figures carry their date. Sources are listed with every story.
No guilt before conviction. A person subject to an ICC warrant is "ICC-wanted", not a "war criminal".
Who we are
Human Rights News is an independent publication. Our analysis is free to read.
Read how we work: Methodology · Classification · Equal application · Corrections · Contact
