The International Justice Resource Center (IJRC) is a non-profit human rights organization based in San Francisco, California. We share essential information, skills, and guidance with advocates and victims around the world to help them achieve justice and accountability for human rights violations using international law.
IJRC is the first comprehensive resource to provide victims and advocates with the practical information they need to educate themselves and protect their own and others’ rights within the international human rights framework. By creating a one-stop online resource hub of practical, advocate-oriented materials, together with complementary tailored trainings and advocacy support, IJRC aims to help close the gap between human rights guarantees and victims’ access to effective redress.
IJRC has special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), allowing us to attend and participate in the activities of the United Nations human rights mechanisms, among other UN bodies.
Our Mission
IJRC’s mission is to empower individuals, through knowledge, to use the law and legal mechanisms for the greater protection of human rights around the world. IJRC is committed to ensuring access to educational materials, training and support for victims and advocates.
This short video explains why IJRC is committed to democratizing access to the international human rights system:
Our Vision
IJRC aims to be a leading resource for online information, legal and practical advice, and capacity building in human rights advocacy; our work will enable practitioners to effectively incorporate human rights norms into their advocacy, allow the general public to understand the legal framework for the protection of their human rights, and advance respect for the rule of law and the universality of human rights guarantees.
Our Services
IJRC provides three principal services to victims and advocates seeking to better understand, or more effectively engage with, human rights protections. These are our:
- Online Resource Hub of information on human rights law and the courts and monitoring bodies that enforce it, news articles and headlines on current developments in international law and human rights conditions, the most useful research tools, and unique publications and educational videos;
- tailored trainings on the substance, availability and utility of human rights law and mechanisms; and,
- litigation and advocacy support, through the provision of research and analysis of international human rights law, assistance in developing advocacy and litigation strategies, and other support, including amicus curiae or third-party intervenor briefs.
Our Inspiration
Every day around the world, individuals and communities are denied enjoyment of fundamental rights and privileges, such as when they are imprisoned without cause, denied participation in processes impacting their health or land, subjected to unhealthy working conditions, discriminated against, or punished for expressing their opinions. When governments perpetrate or fail to respond to these wrongs, the protections of the international human rights framework are often the last, best hope for victims and the local advocates who defend them.
International law is often more protective of fundamental rights than national law and can be enforced by independent, neutral courts and monitoring bodies at the regional and international levels, as well as by national courts. However, many advocates are unfamiliar with this international human rights framework and have little access to information and support on how to use it.
IJRC’s Board of Directors, Advisory Board, staff and volunteers have worked with civil rights, social justice, and human rights organizations around the world. We have seen firsthand the importance of their advocacy, the risks and uncertainties they face, and the limited resources with which they often operate. We have also seen these advocates harness the power of the international human rights framework to bring justice to individuals, mobilize communities, save the lives of people at risk, secure important policy changes, and foster respect for human rights within government and society. IJRC works in service of these advocates and organizations, to support and amplify their impact.