Our Voices
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Federal Agents in NY Retreat in SUV with Slashed Tires as Protesters Shout ‘Gestapo’ Federal immigration agents were seemingly forced to retreat from a roofing job site in an affluent Rochester neighborhood after being confronted by more than 100 protesters on Tuesday. The group shouted “shame” and “Gestapo,” and applauded as agents in…
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Newsweek: Trump Admin’s $4.7 Million Deal With El Salvador Revealed in Court Filing
The Trump administration’s agreement with El Salvador to detain alleged criminal gang members has been made public for the first time, as part of a lawsuit challenging the use of the Alien Enemies Act (AEA).
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share ICE Opens Immigrant Detention Center in Notorious Louisiana Prison The maximum-security prison known as Angola, notorious for a history of violence and harsh conditions, has long been the repository for Louisiana’s worst offenders. Most inmates arrive with life sentences. Now, the prison, officially the Louisiana State Penitentiary, will also hold immigrants who have…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share An Unconstitutional “Jim Crow Jury” Sent Him to Prison for Life. A New Law Aims to Keep Him There When Lloyd Gray stood trial for rape in 1980, two jurors didn’t believe he was guilty and voted to acquit. Today, a split-jury verdict would mean a mistrial and possibly Gray’s freedom. But back…
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Dispatches from Detention: Locked up Indefinitely
Tags Share Dispatches from Detention shares stories of people encountered by RFK Human Rights attorneys in legal outreach trips to the country’s most isolated immigration detention centers. Names have been changed to protect privacy. Buffalo Federal Detention Facility, Batavia, New York “When will this end?” – Marcus, a lawful permanent resident Marcus, a Black man…
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The Marshall Project: The Next Alligator Alcatraz Could Be in Your State
Tags Share Immigrants held in detention are increasingly being sent to state and federal prisons, including many with troubling human rights records. This new practice has already led to abuses, as the unclear legal authority dictating the status of ICE detainees held in prisons means that they are often unable to contact their attorneys or…
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Joint Statement: 8 Years On: Accountability needed for Myanmar atrocities against Rohingya
Tags Share August 25, 2025, marks eight years since the Myanmar military and authorities launched widespread atrocities against the Rohingya population in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Starting in August 2017, Myanmar security forces razed several hundred Rohingya villages and killed Rohingya women, men, and children throughout northern Rakhine State, forcing at least 700,000 to flee to…
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SJS and RFK Human Rights Issue Statement of Support for Somali Journalist Abdalle Mumin facing SLAPP Threat
Tags Share Mogadishu, Somalia / Washington, DC, U.S. – 22 August 2025 – The Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) strongly denounce the attempts of Premier Bank to silence Abdalle Mumin, a human rights defender and journalist. At the behest of Premier Bank, a major Somali financial institution with strong…
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This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights
Tags Share Trump’s ‘Law and Order’ Push in D.C. Looks a Lot Like an Immigration Raid When Trump announced on Aug. 11 that he would deploy hundreds of National Guard members and federalize the local police to “take back” the capital, he framed the mission as a crackdown on violent crime. He cited cases of…
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The Intercept: Teen Immigrant’s Release Propels Lawsuit to End ICE’s Courthouse Arrests
Tags Share A Buffalo teen arrested outside of his asylum hearing has been released after a judge ruled his arrest was unlawful. Following this victory, the New York Civil Liberties Union and other organizations are suing the Trump administration to end courthouse arrests nationwide. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights staff attorney Sarah Gillman said, “We…
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Defending Human Rights Amid Repression: The Escalating Risks for Activists in Venezuela
Tags Share Since the disputed presidential elections on July 28, 2024, Venezuela has experienced a chilling escalation of repression, with human rights defenders (HRDs) at the center of targeted attacks by state actors. What began as a crackdown on protesters evolved into a sustained campaign to silence civil society. The post-election climate has left independent…
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Brazil’s Marco Temporal: Indigenous Land Rights at a Crossroads
Tags Share Brazil is in the midst of a high-stakes battle over Indigenous land rights, centered on the controversial concept of the Marco Temporal, or “time frame” thesis. This legal theory would limit Indigenous territorial claims to lands physically occupied – or under legal dispute – on October 5, 1988, the date Brazil’s current Constitution…
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