Human Rights Program at Harvard Law

05/29/2026

Today, May 29, marks the anniversary of the 1923 African Bill of Rights, issued by the South African Native National Congress. A landmark document 25 years before the UDHR, it called for justice, equality, and rights, especially land ownership rights, for African and colored people, emphasizing that there should be "no taxation without representation." This foundational declaration inspired future liberation movements in Southern Africa.



Photo credit: National Library of South Africa, Cape Town

05/20/2026

📣New Chapter by Professor Neuman on the U.S. & International Law

A chapter by Gerald L. Neuman, HRP Director and J. Sinclair Armstrong Professor of International, Foreign, and Comparative Law, titled “The United States Will Need International Law” is featured in an upcoming book to be published on July 7, 2026.

America Unfinished: 250 Years of Law and Governance, edited by Alexandra Natapoff and Guy-Uriel Charles, is a collection of essays by legal scholars from the Harvard Law School faculty. The book brings together the country’s leading legal experts to analyze the dramatic experiment in American governance that began in 1776—an experiment that remains highly contested 250 years later.

🔗Click here to preorder America Unfinished: 250 Years of Law and Governance:

It is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and the U.S. is grappling with foundational challenges to its laws, institutions of governanc...

05/19/2026

🔦 2026 Summer Fellow Spotlight: Reina Patel

Reina will intern with Minority Rights Group (MRG), where she will support ongoing litigation on issues surrounding indigenous communities’ access to ancestral lands across East Africa, including the Benet Mosop in Uganda and the Batwa in the DRC. She hopes to pursue human rights work that will advance socioeconomic rights across the globe. Were excited to see how Reina’s work will continue to grow.

🔗 To learn more about HRP’s Summer Fellowships visit this link: https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/fellowships/summer-fellowships/

05/18/2026

🔦2026 Summer Fellow Spotlight: Alana Mitias

Alana will intern with Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL), where she will assist in holding transnational corporations legally accountable in the U.S. for human rights violations committed abroad. She hopes to pursue work in corporate accountability and human rights litigation. We’re excited to watch Alana grow through this fellowship.

🔗To learn more about HRP’s Summer Fellowships visit this link: https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/fellowships/summer-fellowships/

05/15/2026

🔦 2026 Summer Fellow Spotlight: Ideal Dowling

Ideal D. will intern with Partners in Justice International (PJI), an organization that supports local practitioners who are pursuing accountability for victims of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. She hopes to undertake work in transitional justice and accountability that applies a decolonial lens to uplift survivors. We’re eager to see where this experience will lead Ideal!

🔗 To learn more about HRP’s Summer Fellowships visit this link: https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/fellowships/summer-fellowships/

05/14/2026

🔦 2026 Summer Fellow Spotlight: Brooke Beyer

Brooke will intern with the British Institute for International Comparative Law (BIICL), where she will conduct substantive legal research on comparative legal issues regarding human rights, sustainable supply chains, and the rule of law. She hopes to pursue work that uses a human rights framework to seek accountability for gender-based violence. We’re looking forward to seeing Brooke’s impact unfold!

🔗 To learn more about HRP’s Summer Fellowships visit this link: https://lnkd.in/eKSUV6vB

05/13/2026

HRP is delighted to announce its 2026 Summer Fellowship cohort: Brooke Beyer JD’28, Ideal D. JD’27, Alana Mitias JD’28, and Reina Patel JD’27

🔗 Click the link to read more about our fellows!

HRP is delighted to announce its 2026 Summer Fellowship cohort: Brooke Beyer JD’28, Ideal Dowling JD’27, Alana Mitias JD’28, and...

05/05/2026

Congratulations to Professor Jill Lepore on receiving the Pulitzer Prize in History this week for her book We the People: A History of the U.S. Constitution!

05/03/2026

Today is , a day to celebrate the vital role of a free press in promoting democracy and holding those in power accountable. We must defend press freedom and human rights in the U.S. and around the world.

05/01/2026

Happy International Workers' Day! Today, we celebrate the rights and dignity of workers all over the world. Did you know that the origins of May Day are tied to the Haymarket Tragedy in Chicago, USA?

The Haymarket Tragedy occurred on May 4, 1886, in Chicago, during a labor demonstration for an 8-hour workday. A bomb was thrown at the police, and gunfire ensued, killing several. The incident sparked a nationwide crackdown on labor unions and led to the ex*****on of several labor leaders, known as the Haymarket Martyrs.

The Tragedy was preceded by a general strike for an eight-hour day on May 1, 1886, which was carried out by hundreds of thousands of workers in the U.S.

In 1894, supported by President Cleveland, Congress chose the first Monday of September to be the national labor holiday because May 1st, the labor holiday in most countries today, was seen as too political.

The image, which was published in Harper’s Weekly in 1886, is one of the most well-known visual depictions of the Haymarket Tragedy.

Photo Credit: Harper's Weekly

04/30/2026

🎥New Event Recording Now Available

Legal Consequences of the Ukraine War in Europe

On April 16th, HRP hosted a panel of leading scholars with diverse expertise to engage with Federico Fabbrini’s “The EU Constitution in Time of War” to contextualize changes in EU integration in light of broader transformations in international law, human rights enforcement and geo-economic competition.

🔗Click the link to view the recording:

Legal Consequences of the Ukraine War in Europe