International human rights law and international humanitarian law are complimentary and have some overlap. Both concern the protection of the life and dignity of individuals, and both concern obligations of states to respect certain fundamental rights. Human rights treaties may apply to situations of armed conflict, as well as international humanitarian law treaties.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) resources, including text, legislative history, and a research guide
UN Core Human Rights Treaties: With dates and monitoring bodies
OHCHR Status of Ratification Interactive Dashboard: Find status of ratifications of the international human rights treaties by country, with declarations listed.
UN Universal Human Rights Instruments: A longer list of treaties and documents, arranged by topic, including treaties on war crimes and crimes against humanity, and treaties on slavery and forced labour
ECOLEX (UN Environmental Programme & Food & Agriculture Organization): Treaties related to environmental law, along with treaty decisions, national legislation and jurisprudence, and other literature)
Documents of the United Nations Human Rights Treaty Bodies include core documents, concluding observations, country visits reports, the Universal Periodic Review (peer review), states party reports, and jurisprudence (individual complaint resolution). Reports document human rights abuses and concerns, and the country's steps to implement the human rights treaties, including legislation, caselaw, and agency information.
UN Treaty Bodies Search: Find documents by state, committee, document type, and date.
OHCHR Jurisprudence database: Search individual complaints under the human rights treaties bodies by keyword.
Universal Periodic Review: Review of UN member state human rights records by peer-review, with statements on actions taken to improve human rights situations and fulfill human rights obligations. Find Documentation by Country, National Reports, and Review documents.
Universal Human Rights Index: Country-specific information from the Treaty Bodies, Special Procedures, and Universal Periodic Review. Filtered searches by theme, concerned persons, country, or UN Treaty Body.
Human Rights Council Special Rapporteurs: Special mandate resolutions and reports by country and theme, including internally displaced persons, use of mercenaries, migrants, and counterterrorism.
UNHCR Refworld (UN Refugee Agency): Reports and policy documents from the UN, governmental organizations, NGOs, and academic institutions on human rights and humanitarian law topics. Refworld includes national caselaw and legislation related to refugees and asylum, and country profiles and reports. Search, or browse by country, author organization, or topic.
Columbia International Affairs Online (CIAO): Working papers, policy briefs, and other reports from research institutes and NGOs.
Human Rights Watch: Browse the topics list to find news and reports
Amnesty International: News and reports by topic and country. Topics include Armed Conflict, Armed Groups, Child Soldiers, International Justice, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity
U.S. Department of State: Human Rights Reports: Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, International Religious Freedom, Trafficking in Persons, Advancing Freedom and Democracy, and Genocide and Atrocities Prevention. Also includes the UN Universal Periodic Review for the U.S., and U.S. Treaty Reports to the UN.
Country of Origin Information for Asylum claims:
European Court of Human Rights: Enforcement of the European Convention on Human Rights. Use the court's HUDOC database to search by treaty article, keyword, domestic law, or international law. See the ECtHR Factsheets by Topic to find cases by topic, linked to HUDOC.
Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Regional organization interpreting and enforcing the American Convention on Human Rights (1978). Jurisprudence to search, or use the digest by treaty article. Also see the Loyola IACHR Project with a case search, and cases arranged by country, topic, and article violation, with summaries in English.
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights Protocol 1 (1998). Cases brought by NGOs and individuals.
