Last year, in response to requests for partnership from local immigrant rights organizations, our research team began examining the human rights implications of contemporary immigration enforcement in Washington state. This work continues to grow, in both depth and urgency: at a time of heightened concern about immigration, it is more important than ever to understand

Across the United States, recent years have seen growing recognition of the need to explore new models to expand access to health care. While the movement toward fulfilling the promise of health as a human right may have stalled among politicians, Native communities in the Pacific Northwest are forging innovative models, in ways that may

Congratulations to Professor Emeritus Rob Crawford, of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UW Tacoma, who received the Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service Award this past June 2018. As the founder of the Washington State Religious Campaign Against Torture, Rob has worked tirelessly to advance human rights for all people. His thoughtful

A few days ago, a neighbor thanked me for my work in human rights. She shook her head as she said it, as if to convey the impression that our work is a depressing act of service performed amid challenging times—but I told her it’s quite the opposite.

Megan Ybarra is an Associate Professor in the UW Department of Geography, and a faculty associate of the UW Center for Human Rights. Her new book, Green Wars: Conservation and Decolonization in the Maya Forest, published by University of California Press, examines how environmental projects have contributed to the criminalization and displacement of Q’eqchi’ Maya communities in lowlands Guatemala.

Mass incarceration is increasingly recognized as a major source of both inequality and human rights violations in the United States. The U.S. incarceration rate is now five to ten times higher than those found in comparable countries, and mass incarceration very disproportionately impacts young and poor people, particularly those of color. For example, an estimated

On Thursday, October 11, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the death penalty violates the Washington State constitution‘s prohibition on “cruel punishment.” In its ruling, the Court cited research by UW Center for Human Rights Faculty Associate Prof. Katherine Beckett and UW Lecturer Heather Evans, who conducted the first study regarding the impact

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights has received the first major cache of newly-declassified documents from our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the US Department of Defense, filed in December 2017. The documents, which are publicly accessible via UW Libraries, reveal key operational details about military operations, deeply relevant to many families’ ongoing search for basic information about the context in which loved ones were victimized or abducted. Sadly, they also reveal frustrating limitations to agencies’ compliance with FOIA, underscoring the need for greater transparency across the board.

On September 21, 2018, the University of Washington Center for Human Rights filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its two sub-agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The lawsuit aims to hold ICE and CBP accountable for failing to respond lawfully to twelve requests for public information filed by Center researchers since 2017.

UW Center for Human Rights Director Angelina Snodgrass Godoy and faculty associate Prof. Jamie Mayerfeld have recently published opinion pieces in local and national media, highlighting important concerns regarding immigrant rights, international human rights law, and torture.