The Promise Institute for Human Rights
With our innovative courses, globally renowned experts and opportunities to launch students into human rights careers, there is no better place to study human rights law than the Promise Institute.
Indigenous Land Defenders of Brazil: In Memoriam (2019-2022)
Our November 2023 report looks at the deaths of thirteen Indigenous leaders along with emerging regions of risk in Brazil, and is unique in the way that it maps the threat Indigenous land defenders face as they stand up to extractivists.
Promise Institute Assistant Director and head of our Digital Investigations Lab, Prof. Jess Peake noted “The report is a powerful advocacy tool which highlights a small fraction of the deaths of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, many of which remain otherwise invisible to outside communities.”
Learn More about the Defenders and our ReportHuman Rights Litigation Clinic joins Mirmehdi Brothers before the IACHR
Watch the recording of the Mirmehdi Brothers, accompanied by students from our Human Rights Litigation Clinic, testifying in Washington D.C. before the IACHR on the brothers’ 41 month arbitrary detention and U.S. courts’ denial of remedy.
Watch the Recording of the HearingUCLA Law Launches Institute for Human Rights in The Hague
Promise Institute Europe expands UCLA’s impact as a leading voice in international human rights law and policy.
Learn More About Our Newest Sister InstituteProfessor E. Tendayi Achiume Honored with MacArthur Fellowship
Promise core faculty, Prof. Achiume earned ‘genius grant’ for her widely impactful work on race, migration and international law.
“If we’re fighting for the kind of world we want to live in, the law is at the center of that fight and is a site of contestation we cannot cede.”
Learn More About Achiume’s Work & AwardEvents
The Climate Emergency and Human Rights
Learn MoreImmigrant’s Rights in Detention: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Mirmehdi Brothers’ IACHR Hearing
Learn MoreThe U.S., Torture & Human Rights
Read our UN Human Rights Committee submission with co-counsel on behalf of Abu Zubaydah asking for an effective remedy for his torture and arbitrary detention without charge over the course of 21 years. We call for his immediate release.
Read the UN Human Rights Committee SubmissionCheck out the newest additions to our Race & Human Rights Reimagined Initiative
Reports, Executive Summaries, a Primer & More!
The Tip of the Iceberg
Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh Briefing Paper
Our September 2023 briefing paper rightly identified the impending ethnic cleansing and genocide ramping up against ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh. Tragically, we have seen it come to pass.
Produced in collaboration with University Network for Human Rights, Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights, Wesleyan University, and Yale’s Lowenstein Project as a result of two fact-finding trips in Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh and four in Armenia between March 2022 and July 2023.
Read the Briefing PaperOutput
We engage our students and our research to drive positive real-world impact.
Faculty / Experts
Our professors, lecturers, speakers, fellows and researchers represent the vanguard of human rights thinking.
Courses
We offer an inspiring education in human rights that goes far beyond the law.
Press/Media Appearances
See why The New York Times, NPR and ABC News are just a few of the outlets reaching out to our experts for their insights
Court Cases
A valuable resource hub for information related to our publicized cases — including context, court documents and more
Publications
Setting Institutional Priorities on Climate Reparations & Racial Justice: Learning from Social Movements
Summary List of Election Deniers and Skeptics Elected to Office During the 2022 U.S. Midterms
UC Student Research Team Monitors the 2022 Midterm Elections for Voter Suppression and Misinformation
Environmental Racism & Climate (In)Justice
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the SustainableDevelopment Goals and the Fight Against Racial Discrimination
With the Williams Institute: Knowledge Gaps and Research Priorities on LGBTQI+ Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Race, Empire and Human Rights
The Crime of Ecocide Through Human Rights: A New Tool for Climate Justice
Social Media, Content Moderation and International Human Rights Law
Race, Tech and Borders
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