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Human Rights Regionally: Home

For anyone looking for more specific human rights resources based on location.

About this Guide

The United Nations General Assembly published the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which defined the modern concept of human rights developed in the aftermath of World War II. The activities of human rights advocacy groups, courts, media, governments, and the victims and survivors of violations generate a wide variety of documentation. These documentations are created internationally and by multiple different regions. This guide is to assist in the in-depth research of International Human Rights Law highlighting resources to find human rights documentation from specific world arenas. 

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Available Online  Available to all users.

 Limited to users within the Suffolk University community. May require login with unique username and password. 

 Available in printAvailable in print.

Lexis+ Use is limited to those with a Lexis+ account. 

Westlaw Use is limited to those with a Westlaw Precision account. 

 May require individual username and password for the playing platform. 

 Audio 

Podcast  Podcast

Film / video Online Film/Movie/Short Video  

DVD DVD

Country Reports

UN Reports on Global Human Rights 

Country Reports include information on the latest Universal Periodic Review and the status of the country in relation to UN Charter-based bodies and Treaty bodies.

The UN Universal Human Rights Index provides access to country and region-specific human rights information emanating from international human rights mechanisms in the United Nations system: the Treaty Bodies, the Special Procedures, and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). The Index allows users to access and search Treaty Body, Special Procedure, and UPR recommendations through several categories.

The UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a review of the human rights records of all UN Member States. Individual Member Country Reports can be viewed on the Documents database.

Civil Society Reports on Global Human Rights

Amnesty International Annual Country Reports

  • covers over 160 countries and territories
  • reports cover regions as well as individual countries

Human Rights Watch Annual World Reports 

  • Click on the latest report and then choose the country you are interested in
  • covers over 90 countries and territories
  • 1990 to current 

Freedom House's Freedom in the World - an annual study of political rights and civil liberties 

  • covers over 195 countries and 15 related and disputed territories
  • 1972 to current 
  • Use the Interactive Map to compare countries. Country scores are based on two numerical ratings, political rights, and civil liberties.
Government Reports on Global Human Rights

US Department of State Human Rights Reports 

  • These annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The Department of State submits reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states.
  • You can see reports by region, country, and human rights topic. A really useful feature is 'Build a Report', which allows you to select one or more human rights topics, then add regions or countries and then build a report to compare those areas.

European Union - EU Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 

  • Provides an overview of the EU’s policies and actions in the field of human rights vis-à-vis third countries, in multilateral bodies, and on certain specific thematic issues. Intended to create transparency and visibility as well as to facilitate the evaluation of the effectiveness of EU actions. 
  • Available online from 2009 to current

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office -  Annual Reports on Human Rights

  • Provides information on the FCO’s activities over the past year to promote human rights abroad.
  • Covers 32 countries with the most serious, wide-ranging human rights concerns.
  • Available online to current