Every story gets one primary category, from 31 categories in six tiers, and any secondary categories that apply. The category is set by legal threshold. The same act gets the same category whoever commits it. Each tier has its own section you can subscribe to.
Tier 1: Crimes Against Humanity
Tier 1 groups genocide (Rome Statute Art. 6), crimes against humanity (Art. 7) and Climate Ecocide, an HRN classification. Every Tier 1 story names the court or body that made the determination, with its date. Climate Ecocide is the exception: it is HRN’s own classification, and every such story says so and states that ecocide is not yet a crime in force.
Genocide in Progress — Genocide is a distinct crime under the Genocide Convention (Art. II) and Rome Statute Article 6, separate from crimes against humanity: one or more listed acts committed with specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. This classification requires both the acts and the intent, and every story names the court or body that made the determination, with its date.
Apartheid System — Inhumane acts committed within an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another, with the intention of maintaining that regime. Apartheid is a crime against humanity under Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(j) and 7(2)(h) and the Apartheid Convention (Art. II), and ICERD Art. 3 prohibits racial segregation and apartheid. Every story attributes the determination to the body that made it, with its date.
Climate Ecocide (HRN Classification) — An HRN classification, not a legal finding. It applies the Independent Expert Panel's 2021 definition of ecocide, a proposed international crime that is not in force and is not a crime under the Rome Statute. A story is classified here only when all four HRN criteria are met, each independently sourced, and it names the binding treaty obligations engaged for the states party to them.
Mass Killing/Extermination — Mass killing as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population. Extermination includes intentionally inflicting conditions of life, such as deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population (Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(b), 7(2)(b)).
Persecution — Intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights, contrary to international law, by reason of the identity of a group or collectivity (Rome Statute Art. 7(2)(g)). The grounds are political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender or other grounds universally recognised as impermissible under international law.
Systematic Torture — Intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering on a person in custody or under control, as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population (Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(f), 7(2)(e)). Torture is absolutely prohibited under CAT Arts. 1-2 and ICCPR Art. 7.
Enforced Disappearance — Arrest, detention or abduction by a state, or with its authorisation, support or acquiescence (under the Rome Statute, also by a political organisation), followed by refusal to acknowledge it or to give information on the person's fate or whereabouts, placing the person outside the protection of law (ICPPED Arts. 2 and 5; Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(i), 7(2)(i)).
Mass Deportation/Forcible Transfer — Forced displacement of people, by expulsion or other coercive acts, from the area in which they are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under international law (Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(d), 7(2)(d)). "Ethnic cleansing" is not itself a crime under international law; HRN names the Rome Statute crime the evidence supports.
Systematic Sexual Violence — Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation or other sexual violence of comparable gravity, committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population (Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(g)).
Enslavement — Exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership over a person, including in the course of trafficking in persons, in particular women and children (Rome Statute Art. 7(1)(c), 7(2)(c)). Forced labour and debt bondage are separately prohibited and are not enslavement unless powers of ownership are exercised.
Tier 2: War Crimes & Occupation
The Rome Statute Article 8 provision cited always matches the type of conflict.
War Crimes - Active Combat — Serious violations of international humanitarian law in armed conflict, including indiscriminate attacks, attacks on civilians, use of prohibited weapons and destruction of civilian objects. The provision cited matches the conflict type: Rome Statute Art. 8(2)(a)-(b) in international armed conflict, or 8(2)(c) and (e) in non-international armed conflict.
Illegal Occupation — Territory is occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of a hostile army (Hague Regulations Art. 42), and the occupier's duties are set by Geneva IV Arts. 47-78 and Hague Regulations Art. 43. HRN classifies an occupation as illegal only where a court or a UN Security Council or General Assembly resolution has determined the occupation, or its incidents, unlawful, and names that instrument.
Starvation as Weapon — Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival, including wilfully impeding relief supplies (AP I Art. 54; AP II Art. 14). It is a war crime under Rome Statute Art. 8(2)(b)(xxv) in international armed conflict, or 8(2)(e)(xix) in non-international armed conflict (2019 amendment, in force only for the States Parties that have ratified it).
Tier 3: Treaty Violations
Mass Arbitrary Detention — Large-scale detention without charge or trial, or without lawful basis or due process, beyond the grounds ICCPR Art. 9 permits. Includes political imprisonment and detention targeting particular groups.
Systematic Rights Violations — A pattern of violations across multiple ICCPR or ICESCR rights affecting a population, below the threshold of crimes against humanity.
Climate Crisis Violations — Breaches of binding climate and human rights obligations by states party to them that do not meet all four criteria for HRN's Climate Ecocide classification. Binding law engaged: Paris Agreement, UNFCCC, ICESCR Arts. 11-12 and ICCPR Art. 6, as interpreted by the ICJ in its advisory opinion of 23 July 2025.
Environmental Destruction — Significant ecosystem damage that causes rights violations, below HRN's Climate Ecocide threshold. Engages ICESCR Art. 12 and ICCPR Art. 6 for the states party to them; in armed conflict, AP I Arts. 35(3) and 55 prohibit widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment.
Sanctions as Collective Punishment — Sanctions are lawful in principle. HRN classifies them here when they are directed at, or foreseeably fall on, a civilian population as a whole, with documented civilian harm. Engages ICESCR Arts. 11-12; Geneva IV Art. 33 where an armed conflict or occupation applies.
Human Rights Violation — Violations of ICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW or CRC obligations that do not meet the systematic threshold, including individual cases of significant impact.
International Law Violation — Breaches of treaty obligations beyond the human rights treaties, including the UN Charter, and ICJ or ICC determinations disregarded.
Tier 4: Emerging Threats
Harms where binding global law is missing or weak. Each category names the gap.
Space Law Violations — Breaches of the Outer Space Treaty, such as national appropriation of outer space or celestial bodies (Art. II) or placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit (Art. IV). Gaps: no binding framework for space traffic management, debris enforcement or a ban on anti-satellite weapons.
AI Accountability Gaps — Harms from artificial intelligence systems where accountability is unclear or absent, including algorithmic discrimination, AI surveillance and autonomous weapons. Binding law reaches some of these harms through ICCPR Arts. 17, 19 and 26. Gap: no binding global accountability framework; the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI (2024) binds only the states that ratify it.
Biotech/Genetic Threats — Threats from biotechnology and genetic engineering to human dignity, rights or safety, including unethical experimentation, genetic discrimination and dual-use risks. Gap: no binding global germline ban (Oviedo Convention Art. 13 binds its European parties only), and no binding rules written for gene drives. Cartagena Protocol 2000.
Neural Rights Violations — Accessing neural data or manipulating brain activity without consent. Binding law is limited to ICCPR Arts. 17 (privacy) and 18 (freedom of thought). Gap: no binding neurorights framework.
Digital Commons Violations — Violations of rights online and threats to shared digital infrastructure, including internet shutdowns, platform censorship and unlawful data harvesting. Binding law: ICCPR Arts. 17 and 19. Gap: no global platform accountability framework.
Tier 5: Impunity & Enforcement
Total Impunity Crisis — Complete accountability failure for documented violations: no investigation or prosecution, and no remedy for victims. States must provide effective remedies (ICCPR Art. 2(3)).
Selective Justice Failure — Differential prosecution or response based on perpetrator power: comparable conduct is investigated or prosecuted for some actors and not for others. It breaches the principle that the same law applies to every actor.
Structural Impunity — Legal or political systems that protect perpetrators from consequence, such as amnesty or immunity laws, limitation periods for serious crimes, and institutional barriers to prosecution.
Tier 6: Progress & Advancement
Accountability Win — Concrete accountability for violations: warrants executed, convictions, sanctions enforced, arrests, or court rulings and reparations that hold those responsible to account.
Legal Advancement — Development of law that strengthens rights protection: new interpretations by courts or treaty bodies, extensions of rights, and treaty developments.
Regulatory Victory — Regulatory, legislative or financial changes that advance rights or environmental protection, including major divestment, legislative wins and treaty ratifications.
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