Human Rights

For databases containing articles and other information, see our Law, Political Science & International Relations databases page.

Comprehensive Sites

AAAS Directory of Human Rights Resources

http://shr.aaas.org/dhr/

Developed by the Science and Human Rights Program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this site provides descriptions and links to hundreds of human rights organizations worldwide on the Internet, organized by site name and by topical or geographical focus.

University of Minnesota Human Rights Library

http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/

This outstanding site organizes access to a wide range of human rights information. Categories include treaties and other international instruments, U.N documents, U.S. human rights documents, asylum and refugee materials, regional materials, human rights education, bibliographies, research guides and links to other sites.

Human Rights Internet

http://www.hri.ca

The HRI organization site serves as "a launchpad into the sprawling human rights community that exists on the Internet". It offers access to new documents & publications, special databases (fee based) for research and reference, news and updates on upcoming international human rights events and issues, and an internet directory of human rights websites.

Speak Truth to Power

http://www.speaktruth.org/

This gateway site to information on human rights issues is provided by the non-profit organization to promote human rights awareness.

United Nations & Agencies

United Nations

http://www.un.org

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

http://www.unhchr.ch

Commission on Human Rights

http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/2/chr.htm

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

http://www.unhcr.ch

UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre

http://www.unicef-icdc.org/index.html

Governmental Sites

African Union (formerly Organization of African Unity)

http://www.africa-union.org/

Council of Europe

http://www.coe.int/

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - U.S. Department of State

http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/hrp_reports_mainhp.html

Annual reports by the U.S. State Department provide a human rights report card on countries worldwide.

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Affairs (DRL)- U.S. Department of State

http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/index.html

Site offers links to current statements and remarks by U.S. government officials concerning human rights and to other policy documents of the U.S. Dept. of State that are related to human rights.

Organization of American States

http://www.oas.org/

Nongovernmental Organizations

Africa Action

http://www.africaaction.org/index.php

American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org

American Friends Service Committee

http://www.afsc.org

Amnesty International

http://www.amnesty.org

Anti-Defamation League

http://www.adl.org

Arab Organization for Human Rights

http://faculty.winthrop.edu/haynese/mlas/aohr.htm

Human Rights First (formerly Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org

Human Rights Watch

http://www.hrw.org

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

http://www.cidh.org

United States Committee for Refugees

http://www.refugees.org

Documents

Project Diana: Online Human Rights Archive

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/diana/index.html

This joint project of several law schools provides links to an international archive of human rights documents focusing on law and litigation.

International Humanitarian Law

http://www.icrc.org/eng/ihl

Offers information on international humanitarian law provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Provides a searchable database of presently 91 treaties and texts, commentaries on the four Geneva Conventions and protocols, signature lists and ratifications.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

http://www.unhchr.ch/udhr/index.htm

This site contains the most comprehensive collection of translations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948. Over 250 different language versions are available in HTML, PDF and graphical formats.