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Extrajudicial Killings
Protection from the arbitrary deprivation of life is essential for the enjoyment of all human rights and the cornerstone of U.S. and international human rights law. But today, extrajudicial killings by U.S. law enforcement stand at record highs.
Guided by the U.S. Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, we work to end police killings in the U.S. criminal and immigration systems.
Litigate
We go to court with human rights defenders pursuing systemic change.
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Barnes v. Felix: Limiting Deadly Police Force
Our amicus brief asks the Supreme Court to recognize that U.S. law, like international human rights law, limits police use of lethal force to situations where it is both necessary and proportionate to a threat.
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Manuel Esteban Paez Teran v. United States: Justice for murder of environmental activist
This case seeks reparative justice for the extrajudicial killing of Manuel “Tortuguita” Paez Terán, the first environmental activist in modern U.S. history to have been shot and killed by police during a protest.
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Mike Brown v. United States: Seeking justice for lethal police violence
This case seeks justice for the extrajudicial killing of Mike Brown and violations of the human rights of Mike and his mother Lezley McSpadden under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
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Rekia Boyd v. United States: Fighting impunity for police killings
This case seeks accountability through international human rights law for the extrajudicial killing of Rekia Boyd by a Chicago police officer.
Expose
We uncover wrongdoing in reports, complaints, and public hearings.
Educate
We inform the public and policymakers about systemic human rights abuses and how to stop them.
Our Partners
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Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative
Black Diaspora Liberty Initiative is dedicated to providing vital support and resources to Black LGBTQ+ immigrants who face unique and multifaceted challenges.
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Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project
The Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project (BLMP) uses leadership development and organizing to address the ways in which trans and queer Black immigrants are criminalized by the criminal law and immigration system, and marginalized in the broader immigrant community.
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Immigration Equality
For 30 years, Immigration Equality has worked to secure safe haven, freedom, and equality for the LGBTQ and HIV-positive communities. Through direct legal services, policy advocacy, and impact litigation, we support immigrants who face discrimination based on who they are and whom they love.
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Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network
The Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) provides free immigration legal and social services to immigrant children and to adults in immigration detention.
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Roxanna Altholz, Human Rights Clinic at University of California Berkeley School of Law
Roxanna Altholz is an international human rights lawyer and scholar with extensive experience in international and national fora.
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Sanctuary New Orleans Abolition Project
SNAP is a transgender-led advocacy project to prevent the systemic abuse of LGBTQI+ systems-impacted people in greater New Orleans.
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Southern Border Communities Coalition
Formed in March 2011, the Southern Border Communities Coalition brings together 60 organizations from San Diego, CA to Brownsville, TX.
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Transgender Law Center
Transgender Law Center is the largest national trans-led organization advocating self-determination for all people. Since 2002 we’ve been organizing, assisting, informing and empowering thousands of individual community members towards a long-term, national, trans-led movement for liberation.
Read the Latest
Bangladesh: Extend the Mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances to Ensure Truth and Accountability
US police use lethal, military-grade force against Black people and civic space activists: report to UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions
RFK Human Rights Submits Evidence to UN Special Rapporteur of Disproportionate, Deadly Policing in the U.S.
US used lethal force to suppress climate change activism: report to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights Groups Urge United Nations Racial Justice Body to Address Legal Barriers for Victims of Police Violence
Associated Press: Civil rights groups sue to restore jobs at Homeland Security oversight offices that were gutted
New York Times: Lawsuit Aims to Reverse Firings at Internal Oversight Offices Within D.H.S.
US violates human rights of non-citizens: coalition report to UN Human Rights Council for the 2025 Universal Periodic Review of the US
Letter to the U.N. Secretary-General in Advance of His Visit to Bangladesh
Help us protect human rights
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