International Human Rights Law

[Dr Lena Riemer is an Assistant Professor of Law at Central European University working on migration related topics.] When around 80,000 people (according to the Spanish government) crossed into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in early August, reactions quickly framed the event as a test of the EU’s border control and policy and the solidarity amongst its member states (for a...

[Natalia Kubesch is a Legal Advisor at REDRESS and UK-qualified solicitor. She holds an LL.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge and an MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Chris Esdaile is a Senior Legal Advisor at REDRESS and a UK-qualified solicitor. He has an LLM in International Human Rights Law at Queen...

[Bashar AlHadla is a human rights researcher and educator specializing in international human rights law, refugee protection, and nationality law. He holds graduate degrees from Union University in Belgrade, the University of Toronto, and the University of London.] In February 2026, the United States Central Command announced the completion of transferring 5,700 ISIS terrorist fighters from detention camps in north-eastern Syria...

[Francisco Javier Rozas Porras is a Spanish lawyer and PhD researcher in international law of the sea at the DEHUKAM Institute / Ankara University. He holds an LL.M. in Maritime Law from ICADE University in Madrid, Spain.] Introduction In 2026, Spain’s migration policy features a striking paradox. The Government has launched one of the most ambitious regularization processes in Europe on land,...

[Fadel Abdulghany is executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights and author of The Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria and the Failure of the International Community and Undermining the Independence of the Judiciary in Syria and Pathways to Its Reform.] For six years, Al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria was the world's largest and most troubled detention site linked to the Islamic State and the...

[Tomás Cristóbal Alonso Sandoval Tomás has a PhD in Advanced Studies in Human Rights (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid), and is a lawyer, international litigator, university professor, and researcher] The Forgotten Dictatorship: An Authoritarianism Operating in Silence The expression “forgotten dictatorship” accurately describes the Nicaraguan situation because, although international organizations have documented serious, systematic, and ongoing human rights violations, the country’s crisis...

[Clara Sandoval is an international human rights lawyer, Honorary Professor at Essex University, and founding member of the Essex Transitional Justice Network. She is also a visiting professor at the Geneva Academy, and Director of Programmes at the Global Survivors Fund where she works on reparation.] The author served as expert in this case, providing analysis on Peru’s reparations framework, including...

[Sarah Shoker is a Senior Non-Resident Fellow in artificial intelligence at U.C. Berkeley Risk and Security Lab and former Geopolitics Team Lead at OpenAI. Jessica Dorsey is an Assistant Professor of International Law at Utrecht University School of Law and Managing Editor of Opinio Juris.] What began as a quiet contract dispute between the U.S. Department of Defense and the AI...

[Larissa Kojoue is a researcher at the LGBT division with Human Rights Watch] Legislation that strips people of their rights is gaining momentum across Africa, in the name of “African Family Values” and “Sovereignty.” It is not driven by popular demands, but rather because domestic actors find it politically rewarding, and external forces find the African continent a strategic arena to advance a coordinated agenda of exclusion...

[Roar Mikalsen is the Leader of the Alliance for Rights-Oriented Drug Policies (AROD)] The author is the lead applicant in the Mikalsen v. Norway applications before the ECtHR (app. no. 67078/10 and subsequent filings). This connection is disclosed for full transparency The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) serves as the ultimate arbiter of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), ensuring that state...

[Patrick Brian Smith is an Assistant Professor and University Fellow at the University of Salford, where his research critically examines how evidence is mediated with a particular focus on open-source investigation, AI, and human rights] Human Rights-focused OSI OSI (open source investigation) practices involve the collection and analysis of information drawn from publicly accessible sources to examine specific events, individuals, and organisations. Although...

The following post is based on a keynote lecture I delivered at the Global Sumud Flotilla conference. Uniquely, the conference took place at Muğla University the weekend the flotilla launched from Marmaris and was attended by a blend of activists and scholars, more activists than scholars admittedly. The context is relevant for the tone of my remarks. While the essence...