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Using the law. For a world free from torture, exploitation and fortressed borders.
ECCHR is an independent, non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to enforcing civil and human rights worldwide. It was founded in 2007 by Wolfgang Kaleck and other international human rights lawyers to protect and enforce the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as other human rights declarations and national constitutions, through legal means. Together with our global network, we enforce human rights and make injustice visible. In court and society.
Current cases
Suspicion of war crimes due to Israeli airstrikes
Civilians should be specially protected in armed conflicts, at least according to international law. The German Federal Prosecutor Generals's Office should therefore immediately initiate investigations into the alleged killing of the German-Palastinian Abdujadallah family during an Israeli airstrike.
Life imprisonment for member of Gambian armed forces
Life imprisonment for member of Gambian armed forces – A member of a special paramilitary unit of the Gambian armed forces under the authoritarian Jammeh regime was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Higher Regional Court of Celle for the murder of journalist Deyda Hydra and other crimes. It is the first verdict on the crimes committed during the regime of Yahya Jammeh in The Gambia.
Accused ex-military officer Luis Kyburg has died
In November, the Berlin Public Prosecutor General's Office brought charges against the Argentine ex-naval officer Luis Kyburg for 23 counts of murder during the Argentine military dictatorship. He died in Berlin before the trial began. ECCHR regrets the hesitant approach of the German judiciary.
Together with those affected and partners worldwide, ECCHR uses legal means to end impunity for those responsible for torture, war crimes, sexual and gender-based violence, corporate exploitation and fortressed borders.
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Institute for Legal Intervention
Critical Legal Training
At ECCHR, we look to a growing network to share and develop our motivation, knowledge and innovative approaches to conducting human rights work. With this in mind, ECCHR’s Critical Legal Training focuses on training, networking and collaborative learning. To ensure the future of progressive human rights work, we take part in an ongoing learning process together with young lawyers and our international colleagues.
(Post)colonial injustice and legal interventions
The development of international law is closely interwoven with colonialization and imperialism. Colonial violence was frequently covered up, and injustices were incorporated into a legal system. Imperial continuities persist in today's international law, as well as in international economic and trade structures.
From museum to courtroom: Investigative Commons reinvents legal investigations
In search of new ideas for the creative and public enforcement of human rights, we founded Investigative Commons in 2020. The multidisciplinary cooperation is a result of years of collaboration between ECCHR and the research agency Forensic Architecture.
The Institute for Legal Intervention focuses on critical perspectives on the law, particularly concerning power and power dynamics. We aim to make a long-term contribution to societal, legal and political debates through exchange with universities and research institutions, through our training and co-learning activities, through collaboration with our partners worldwide as well as in dialogue with artists and activists.
ECCHR in the media
How a Syrian refugee is standing up to brutal Croatian pushbacks in court
German court hands Gambian death squad driver life sentence
In Africa, demands for slavery reparations grow louder
Argentinian ex-officer who was charged over 23 murders dies in Berlin
Israel Has Enjoyed Decades of Legal Impunity. Could the War on Gaza Finally Change That?
International law and war in the Middle East — A guest contribution by Wolfgang Kaleck
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Publications
Why climate justice is not just about reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Without a human rights approach, there can be no sustainable fight against the climate crisis. The struggle for climate justice must not be limited to reducing CO 2 emissions: it is about tackling the causes of the crisis itself.
No Contracts, no Rights: How the Fashion Industry Avoids Paying Minimum Wages in Pakistan
New research findings show that German companies' supply chains often do not even pay the minimum wage. The report "No Contracts, no Rights: How the Fashion Industry Avoids Paying Minimum Wages in Pakistan" uncovers alarming labor rights violations in textile factories in Pakistan that have been going on for years.
ECCHR Book Series
The ECCHR Book Series aims to examine the potentials and pitfalls of human rights work in a shifting political and legal landscape. Uniting diverse voices across disciplinary boundaries, each book explores overlapping political, economic, social and environmental challenges worldwide, as well as strategies to combat them.
In the first two books, ECCHR General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck discusses the role of art in political and legal interventions with artist and activist Tomás Saraceno, and ECCHR Legal Director Miriam Saage-Maaß and GLAN Founding Director Gearóid Ó Cuinn explore new systemic approaches toward combating corporate power.
In order to sustainably change the law, a transformation of social power relations is needed – and new laws have to be created. This is why ECCHR initiates and participates in legal and law-related policy debates, organizes public events and publishes on selected topics.
15 Jahre Engagement
The existence of human rights is not a foregone conclusion – rather, they must be defended and fought for again and again. The challenges of legal human rights work demand perseverance and have been our central focus since ECCHR’s foundation in 2007. Read our multimedia article “Fighting for 15 years to uphold human rights worldwide.”
