Curt Goering writes about the disturbing developments in Egypt, which mirror shrinking space for human rights and civil society organizations in many other parts of the world.

Curt Goering, CVT's executive director, calls on all Americans to remember that torture is, in fact, a crime.

Rights and freedoms are the focus of this year’s Human Rights Day, according to the UN. Those rights and freedoms—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear – are the basis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which applies to all human beings. But this year in particular, that last one, “freedom from fear,” gets stuck in my throat. Because we’re not all free from fear these days. Not by a long shot.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently issued a report on the plight of Syrian refugee women. Woman Alone: The Fight for Survival by Syria's Refugee Women shows that more than 145,000 Syrian refugee families in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan – one in four of all households – are headed solely by women. According to UNHCR, the report uncovers that “Many [women] live under the threat of violence or exploitation, and their children face mounting trauma and distress.”

In early July, the UN Special Representative on Children and Armed Conflict released the Annual Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict. The report, which covers January to December 2013, found that children were recruited and used, killed and maimed, victims of sexual violence and other grave violations in 23 conflict situations around the world last year.

On June 20 – World Refugee Day – the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released its annual Global Trends report on the number of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced people worldwide due to persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations.

The International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), part of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has released its Global Overview 2014 report.