We collaborate with local, regional, and international partners to hold governments accountable, create lasting legal change, and foster an environment allowing individual and collective actors to speak out, participate in public affairs, organize, protest, and otherwise freely exercise and enjoy their human rights. Through strategic litigation and targeted advocacy, we foster collaboration and dialogue between civil society and key actors and promote cross-pollination of the most protective legal standards and innovative approaches to legal issues. Our partnership model builds on the work of local organizations on the ground by jointly strategizing and litigating cases, supporting their litigation through filing Amicus briefs, and working together to assess, advise, and build their technical capacity.  From litigating landmark cases, such as the first case on lethal violence against journalists before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights or a case on the protection for peaceful assembly before the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights, to developing an innovative tool that maps key ongoing judicial cases worldwide, we are committed to protecting and defending civic space and democracy around the world.

We join forces with defenders on the ground to end violence and discriminatory practices against individuals and peoples based on their racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual identities and expression. From combating gender-based violence in Mexico or Guatemala, and transphobic violence in Honduras to historic policies of exclusion against Dominicans of Haitian Descent or indigenous peoples in Brazil, we use international human rights law to hold governments accountable for their obligations and to promote structural changes to address the root causes.

We actively seek accountability for the gravest human rights abuses, such as crimes against humanity and genocide. We pursue justice by representing the interests of victims before international bodies and tribunals, including the International Criminal Court and international human rights mechanisms, or by supporting the activation of universal jurisdiction or individual targeted sanctions. Through meticulous documentation of violations and targeted advocacy, we strive to secure justice and redress for those whose rights have been violated, holding both governments and individuals accountable for their actions.