International Human Rights Organizations Research Articles

Some issues of the status and functioning of the United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine

Today, the United Nations plays a leading role in the development of international law and cooperation among the world's states. Member states have pledged to realize their rights and fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter. The main objectives of the UN are envisaged in Article 1 of the Charter, where the key provision relating to human rights is reflected in paragraph 3 of Article 1. According to it, the UN aims to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural and humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction of race, sex, language or religion [1]. As it can be seen, the Charter only calls on states parties to promote the protection of human rights, without establishing clear obligations to protect and guarantee them.
 Since 2014, i.e. since Russia launched its war against Ukraine, the aggressor has not stopped committing crimes against our country and our people. Russia's actions encroach not only on the sovereignty of our state, but also on human rights and freedoms. Under such circumstances, the international community cannot stand aside from these events. Many international human rights organizations have offices in Ukraine. Among them is the UN. On 31.07.2014, the Government of Ukraine and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights signed an agreement on the deployment of a short-term UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
 The legal status of UN monitoring missions in legal science has not been the subject of a separate study. Certain aspects of the activities and competence of such missions have been considered in the works of such scholars as I.A. Shumilo [14], F. Megre [13], K. Boyle [12] and others, which are devoted to the coverage of international mechanisms for the protection of human rights and freedoms, the status of the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. Therefore, the task set out in this article is to analyze and establish the specifics of the legal status of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (hereinafter - the Mission), in particular, the one established for Ukraine, and the limits of the Mission's powers under the UN Charter, UN General Assembly resolutions, and international agreements between UN agencies and Ukraine. Therefore, the relevance of this article is beyond doubt. It has been established that the purpose of the Mission is to facilitate cooperation between the Government of Ukraine and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (hereinafter - OHCHR)[2] and it plays the role of a subsidiary mechanism for the protection of human rights and freedoms within the UN. The conclusions of the mission will undoubtedly serve as a convincing additional evidence base for Ukraine in international judicial and other bodies in protecting its interests and establishing the guilt of the Russian Federation for actions committed against our country.

Addressing Japan’s disposal of nuclear-contaminated water from the perspective of international human rights law

The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water containing radionuclides into the ocean by Japan will lead to its integration into the entire ecosystem through processes of circulation and biomagnification, eventually entering the human body via the food chain. This poses a substantial risk of irreversible damage to both the ecosystem and human health, a situation that will worsen with the ongoing discharge of such water. The respect and protection of human rights represent an international consensus, and safeguarding fundamental human rights is a substantial obligation that states must undertake in accordance with both international and domestic law. Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has continuously violated its international legal obligations to protect human rights in several areas, including the resettlement of disaster victims, the reduction of nuclear radiation levels, and the handling of contaminated water. Such actions have compromised and will continue to compromise the basic human rights of not only its citizens but also those of people worldwide, including environmental rights, the right to life, development rights, and food rights. In the aftermath of the Fukushima meltdown, the public and workers involved in handling nuclear contaminants have been continually exposed to high radiation levels, endangering their rights to life, development, and health. Japan’s inadequate efforts in victim resettlement and environmental restoration have jeopardized the environmental and food rights of its citizens to live healthily and access food in an environment unaffected by nuclear radiation. The release of nuclear-contaminated water poses a risk of Japan’s nuclear pollution to the people of neighboring countries and the global population at large. The principle of human rights underpins the theory of a community with a shared future for humanity, and human rights are a crucial area of China’s active participation in United Nations affairs and global governance. By voicing concerns over Japan’s potential human rights violations globally, China demonstrates its role as a responsible major country. In response to Japan’s breach of legal obligations and human rights violations, China can adopt a reasoned and beneficial approach, including calling on the international community to hold Japan criminally accountable for crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute and advancing scholarly discussions on ecocide and crimes against the marine environment. Furthermore, China should persist in seeking advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice and strive for substantive accountability, utilizing the mechanisms of international human rights organizations to make its voice heard.

Decolonizing Transnational Feminism

Abstract This article analyzes the Afghan and Iranian feminist uprisings of the early 2020s spurred by #MahsaAmini’s death and the return of the Taliban, and their predecessors, #MyRedLine and #MyStealthyFreedom. It assesses why these movements, which gained international traction and a huge global online and offline presence, are no longer in the mainstream media spotlight. The article examines the efficacy and dangers of these feminist movements, which attempt to redress the tide of Islamist ideology in both countries by building solidarity with international governmental and nongovernmental human rights organizations. It also highlights how Afghan and Iranian women’s activism is selectively recognized and appropriated by neo-imperial agendas and provides strategies for decolonization. Finally, the article argues that #MahsaAmini and #MyRedLine are exemplary instances of feminist transnational collaboration and global mobilization for women’s rights, whereas #MyStealthyFreedom and the lack of coverage of the Afghan women’s right uprising since Taliban 2.0 fall into the paradigm of imperial feminism.

Analysis of Recognition from the Perspective of International Law and Implementation of Public Policies in Indonesia and Myanmar

Human rights are a universal issue that is of concern to the international community. The countries of Indonesia and Myanmar certainly have a historical record of quite large human rights violations, so it is very important to know and learn about the recognition of human rights between the two countries and the implementation of public policies related to human rights in these two countries, namely Indonesia and Myanmar. This study aims to analyze, discuss, and provide an overview or view of the differences in the recognition of human rights between Indonesia and Myanmar from the perspective of international law, while also analyzing the implementation of public policies related to rules and laws regarding human rights. human rights in both countries through legislative mechanisms and public policy practices, especially in Indonesia and Myanmar. The method used in this study is a normativelegal method with data analysis techniques through literature studies, collecting information from various sources, including reports from international and national human rights organizations, academic publications, journals, and other information sources related to human rights. The main findings show that there are several differences in the recognition of human rights between Indonesia and Myanmar based on international conventions on human rights.In addition, the implementation of rules or laws on human rights in both countries also has its own challenges, such as the weak protection system for victims of human rights violations and local cultural factors. The conclusion of this research is that, despite progress in implementing international standards on human rights in Indonesia and Myanmar, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome. Therefore, there is a need for further efforts from the government and civil society to increase the recognition and protection of human rights in the two countries. This research provides a deeper understanding of comparative human rights in Indonesia and Myanmar, as well as valuable insights for efforts to improve and protect human rights in both countries.

Systemic Discrimination of the Russian Orthodox Church in European Countries

This article examines and analyzes the discriminatory processes in Ukraine against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the discriminatory processes in the European Union countries against the Russian Orthodox Church. It specifi es the major publications highlighting the facts of discrimination against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. The article also mentions the documents of the European Parliament, which have been used as the justifi cation for restricting the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church. These documents have become an aid for the introduction of unprecedented targeted sanctions against Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia by countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Such gross interference by politicians in the activity of Orthodox churches is becoming the norm of political life in countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as evidenced by the actions taken by the politicians of these countries and mentioned in the article. Moreover, the article fi gures out the understanding of the crisis in the international human rights movement with regard to rights and freedoms of religious organizations. The article highlights cases when Ukrainian human rights defenders became authors of anti-church laws, and the well-known Amnesty International human rights organization apologized for their report on the alleged war crimes by the Zelensky’s regime. Double standards in the assessment of off ense seriousness in Ukraine are clearly illustrated by the example of the fi rst three reports of the Monitoring Mission that was deployed in Ukraine in March 2014 by the Off ice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. This mission was represented by more than 30 employees in fi ve Ukrainian cities: Kyiv, Donetsk, Odessa, Kharkiv and Lviv. These reports included a section dedicated to the observance of rights and freedoms of religious organizations in Ukraine. The article mentions the incidents recorded by the Monitoring Mission and the facts of discrimination against clerics and members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church highlighted in mass media. It is noted that the Monitoring Mission recorded mainly cases of discrimination against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kiev Patriarchate, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and other religious organizations. Violations of rights and freedoms of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church were not only ignored, but sometimes its activity was characterized in documents as “aggressive”.

Addressing the Emerging Issues of Xenophobic Attack and Human Rights Violations in South Africa: Adopting a Human Rights-Based Approach

Human Rights abuses in South Africa occasioned by xenophobic attacks in South Africa had occurred intermittently for over a decade despite the hue and cry against xenophobia. Driven primarily by efforts to protect human life and overcome the challenges of xenophobia, some international human rights organisations expressed their views on the curtailment of human rights abuses perpetrated in South Africa. Contextually, South- Africa has notable human rights organisations, yet human rights abuses happen through xenophobic attacks in some parts of the country. The primary objective of this paper is to identify human rights challenges brought about by xenophobic attacks, including the right to human dignity and the right to life. This methodology adopted in this paper included reference to statutes, internet sources, and newspaper publications. This paper finds, amongst others, that despite the United Nations conventions and other international laws guaranteeing the human rights of all persons, the South African government appeared overwhelmed by the xenophobic attacks in dealing with the situation. This paper made useful recommendations towards preventing future xenophobic attacks and avoiding human rights violations.

Protecting Civil and Political Rights: Comparative Analysis of International Human Rights Mechanisms

This research conducts a comparative analysis of international human rights mechanisms to examine their effectiveness in protecting civil and political rights. The research aims to assess the strengths, limitations and contributions of various international mechanisms in protecting these fundamental rights. Part of the study process included a thorough analysis of international human rights treaties, agreements, reports, and case law from regional and international human rights organizations. The focus of the examination is on contrasting the mandates, responsibilities, and management styles of important international human rights institutions, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, and the UN Human Rights Council. These international organizations use a variety of tactics and resources to safeguard civil and political rights, which are made evident in its conclusions. The report lists common problems that these systems encounter, such as poor enforcement capacities, disparities in membership and participation, and the potential impact of political interests on decision-making processes. It also looks at how these processes have helped advance civil and political rights all throughout the world. The article discusses significant cases and rulings that have helped establish international and state standards for human rights legislation.

Deviated State: Research Methodology

In this article the author analyzes the current domestic state studies, trends and features of its development. It is concluded that legal science practically does not study the so-called blunders in state policy, ineffective strategics, failures of reforms and programs. Classical state science and its representative Aristotle called this a deviation in a state development and used the concept of a deviated (deviating) state . It is proposed to study the causes, types and forms of deviations. The author believes that this approach will allow a deeper analysis of the emerging negative trends and patterns in the European statehood development. The current global crisis, provoked by the situation in Ukraine and around it, only sharpens deviations in the European states’ development. It is emphasized that deviated state theory needs a proper development in the legal science. The problem of the state bodies activities imitation shall be central in the future theory. The author believes that many components of modern statehood do not essentially fulfill their tasks and functions, or, if they do, then partly. The relationship between society and the state is analyzed through the prism of alienation. The state is a product of society; it was created for society and is entirely indebted to it. Legal science must develop criteria for remoteness of the state from society to define the degree of alienation. Within the framework of negative trends, selectivity is also considered as a feature of modern statehood. The author understands selectivity as a special form of coercion. Such states do not carry out heavy repressions; there is a certain point of revenge on individuals, groups, organizations, etc. Among the deviations, the author refers to ignoring the role and importance of social organizations, state’s withdrawal form international human rights organizations, etc. The article ends with the author’s appeal to reasonableness as a condition for resisting deviations. Reasonableness must form the basis for statehood and legal reality. The state, its institutions must be the product of rational human activity. Mankind has long been determined in its own values, which include the state and its companion - law.

Freedom of religion in Ukraine: challenges during the russian-ukrainian war

The article is updated by several circumstances, which the authors reflect on. In their opinion, there are 1) obvious and external threats — violations of freedom of conscience in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea, which arose as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and 2) internally hidden and potential dangers for freedom of religions of Ukrainian citizens. The well-known examples of discrimination of believers of certain faiths in the so-called DPR-LPR and Crimea given by the authors are constantly updated. Relevant monitoring and analytical reports are prepared by both Ukrainian and international experts. They submitted these reports to international human rights organizations, including the rights for Freedom of Religion and Belief. Despite such convincing documented materials, separate accusations have recently appeared against Ukraine, which allegedly violates freedom of religion in the territory under its control. Some are trying to prove that Ukraine, taking advantage of the war situation and referring to the spiritual dangers for Ukraine from those religious organizations whose centers are in the aggressor country, threatens some churches, thereby violating the Constitution and the Law on Freedom of Conscience, which guarantee for all citizens, regardless of from their religious affiliation, freedom of religion. The authors refute these narratives lashed out by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. Such negative conclusions, which express concern about the situation in Ukraine regarding freedom of conscience and religion, influence on the world public, experts on issues of freedom of conscience, religious organizations, spoil the image of Ukraine as a country with high level of freedom of conscience even among European countries. Religious freedom, as the authors conclude, needs protection today, but they call for separating real threats from imaginary ones and clearly defining who persecutes, whom he/she persecutes and where persecutes. Ukraine is consistent in its intentions to protect the rights of people and communities, to protect the freedoms of believers and their organizations.

Eating in Isolation: A Normative Comparison of Force Feeding and Solitary Confinement.

The practice of solitary confinement (SC) is established within the literature as a common occurrence of torture within the prison system, and many international and national human rights organizations have called for its abolition. A somewhat more contentious topic in the literature is the practice of force feeding (FF) of hunger-striking prisoners. The paper aims to make a case against FF by establishing a parity argument that states the following: If SC is considered an immoral practice (and indeed it should be), it should follow that FF is morally impermissible as well. In conclusion, this paper will argue that FF of hunger-striking prisoners is a violation of their fundamental moral rights and constitutes cruel and inhumane treatment and, therefore, should be abolished.

Bulgarians in the GULAG: The Cases of Political Exiles Nediu Sakov and Petar Marinov

The article examines Stalin's confrontation with the Bulgarian communist exiles in the USSR by the example of two political émigrés – Nediu Sakov and Petar Marinov, who were arrested during the mass purges in 1936 – 1938 and sentenced to five and three years in labor camps. For reconstruction of the experienced repressions and imprisonment in the Gulag are used published documents from the Bulgarian archives, electronic databases of the victims of political terror in the Soviet Union of the international human rights organization “Memorial”, as well as the unpublished memoirs of the two Bulgarians, stored for many years in the former Central Party Archive of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The comparison of documents and memoir testimonies, which contain a wide range of personal experience, helps to more completely reconstruct the repressive policy towards the Bulgarian communist emigration in the USSR during the “Great Terror” and to expand the scientific knowledge about the Bulgarians in the GULAG.

New evidence that naming and shaming influences state human rights practices

To what extent does naming and shaming influence state respect for human rights? Although many countries and international human rights organizations strategically name and shame states with the hope of deterring human rights abuses, prior empirical work on these strategies has disagreed about their effectiveness. In this article, we reinvestigate this theoretically important question. We take a new approach to examining how naming and shaming influences state human rights practices. First, we apply automatic text analysis to a corpus of human rights reports and develop two new cross-national human rights naming and shaming measures. One measure focuses on Amnesty International’s (AI’s) naming and shaming efforts, and the other focuses on the US government. Second, we assess the construct validity of these measures, finding evidence that they capture the relevant latent dimension. Third, we examine the extent to which these measures are correlated with human rights practices. Our results show that whereas AI’s naming and shaming activities do not seem to influence regime practices, the US State Department’s are associated with improved rights performance. Our measures and results contribute to the growing literature on human rights, international organizations, and foreign policy.

Defining Victimhood: The Political Construction of a “Victim” Category in Colombia’s Congress, 2007–2011

AbstractScholars of state classification practices have long interrogated how official legal categories are constructed. This paper analyzes the construction of “victimhood” in Colombia as a feat that required negotiation among international human rights organizations, local civil society actors, and politicians across the partisan spectrum. The Victims’ Law of 2011, which sought to provide widespread reparations to victims of the civil conflict, originated from the concerns of the human rights community, yet the deliberation process leading up to the law’s passage reveals the extent to which elite historical narratives of the conflict unduly narrowed the universe of eligible victims. Using archival evidence from congressional debates from 2007 to 2011, this paper argues that the broad conception of victimhood originally inherited from United Nations guidelines came to be constrained by disproportionate influence from politicians’ personal understandings of conflict history, shaped by anecdote and the selective use of historical evidence. These rationales interacted with budgetary constraints to ultimately restrict the victim category according to negotiated temporal boundaries of the conflict.

Same old story of good cop–bad cop? A narrative approach to social representations of the police's role in addressing gender‐based violence in Indian gender advocacy

AbstractDespite considerable evidence of the patriarchal nature of the police and underreporting of gender‐based violence in India, there is a dearth of literature on how gender advocacy campaigns in India tackle these issues. This study addresses this gap by exploring how the police is represented in gender advocacy in India. The material comprises of eight campaign videos from two ideologically opposing organizations: Amnesty International, an international human rights organization and Ministry for Women and Child Development, a government body. Social representations theory and narrative analysis are applied in the analysis to answer how the role of the police is narratively constructed. Results suggest two contrasting representations held by each organization in line with their organizational identities. While Amnesty constructed the police as villains obstructing women's access to justice, the Ministry represented the police as heroes defending women's safety. The analysis contributes a novel way of locating anchors and objectifications by a focus on narrative actions and goals. Additionally, the discussion of the findings broadens conceptions of hegemonic and polemic representations, arguing for a more power‐centric approach that conceives of hegemony in terms of access to media channels and material resources. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

The Palestine Exception, Racialization and Invisibilization: From Israel (Palestine) to North America (Turtle Island)

This paper contends that the Zionist policies implemented by Israel had and continue to have a grave impact not only on the Palestinians in historic Palestine alone but also follows them in the diaspora, where some Palestinians have taken refuge. This article argues that Israel’s apartheid regime, exposed by various international Human Rights Organizations, is not a recent discovery. Apartheid, the exclusion of the natives, and their racialization have accompanied the Zionist movement since its inception. Crucial questions raised in this paper include how Palestine and the Palestinians are conceived by Zionism, in and outside of Israel, and how they are perceived by the West, especially within the Canadian context. This paper pays special attention to comparing the experience of Palestinians with that of North America’s Indigenous population, specifically concerning Israel’s and Canada’s colonial policies towards the Indigenous peoples. It also discusses the impact of Israel’s policies of silencing and vilification that doggedly follow Palestinians into the diaspora: vilifications and silencing enacted by the Israel lobby through its various Zionist (Jewish) branches, whose primary role is to silence and vilify the Palestinians and curb criticism of Israel and Zionism. This policy, it is argued, is strongly supported by Canada, structurally, institutionally and through media propaganda.

Role of International Organizations for Protection of Muslims Rights in India

The role of international Human rights organizations is discussed in this research. United Nations should play its role independently without the pressure of a developed state. Being a Secular and democratic state it is essential for the state to protect all individual but in the tenure of the current ruling party Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) massive violations of human rights has been occurred. Basic rights to all individuals' should be granted to all individuals. Minority rights should be respected by the administration and strict actions should be taken on the violation of human rights.

Sexual violence against women in ECHR practice: mechanism of international protection during the Russian-Ukrainian war

The Russian army commits sexual violence against Ukrainian people, especially women. Police have launched a series of criminal proceedings because of rape of women and girls in Donetsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Rape is a kind of crime that is extremely traumatic for victims. Sexual violence during the war means not only rape in physiological dimension, but also humiliation supported and approved by Russian authorities. Currently no data exist to assess the scale of sexual crimes committed by the Russian military, said the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova. The quantity of these crimes changes constantly, day by day, but the whole situation cannot be estimated to the fullest. Those who have suffered sexual violence are afraid and ashamed to talk about it. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the International Human Rights Organization La Strada-Ukraine also reported about the lack of the exact numbers. UN Women has reported that the war increases the exposure of women and girls to war crimes, especially all forms of gender-based violence, arbitrary killings, rape and trafficking.
 It is difficult to change the situation on the forefront, however, it is essential to bring up the question of sufferings of the most vulnerable groups of Ukrainian people.
 At the same time, it is crucial not only to inform people about war crimes at this stage of the war, but also to understand, how exactly international mechanisms work to protect victims of sexual violence. Ukrainian authorities may fail to investigate allegation of rape properly and consequently the State duty to provide an effective legal protection against sexual abuse will be in breach. Subsequently, the European Court of Human Rights will be involved in such cases, thus, it is crucial to understand the relevance of its practice in this situation. This issue is also becoming more relevant given that sexual violence during martial law and occupation has not been considered by the European Court of Human Rights in the context of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Роль Amnesty International в системі міжнародних відносин

The article examines the history of the international human rights organization Amnesty International, which since its inception has been constantly working around the world to stop human rights violations. The activity of this international organization from the moment of its foundation to the present is described. The covered Amnesty International’s fight against the abolition of the death penalty, protection of sexual rights, fight against discrimination to protect the rights of migrants and refugees, fight against apartheid, protection from torture, etc. The role of the international non-governmental organization Amnesty International in the system of global governance from its creation to the present period is analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the activities of this international organization in Ukraine. Amnesty International has investigated and covered issues in Ukraine such as torture and ill-treatment in the army and prisons, the case of Georgy Gongadze and other journalists, and called on Ukraine to end criminal charges against journalists. With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Amnesty International has focused the world’s attention on the problem of the war in Ukraine. The author concludes that, despite the contradictory nature of its activities, this international organization has played and continues to play an important role in world politics. Today, it is one of the most famous and influential non-governmental organizations in the world. It investigates violations and abuses whenever and wherever, and requires governments and corporations to comply with their obligations and respect international law.

ЭМИГРАЦИЯ И РУССКОГОВОРЯЩИЕ СООБЩЕСТВА В США: ПОСЛЕДСТВИЯ ПАНДЕМИИ И ГЕОПОЛИТИЧЕСКОЙ НАПРЯЖЕННОСТИ В 2022 ГОДУ

The article discusses some aspects of the modern history of emigration from Russia to the United States, the factors and scale of emigration flows. The features of the visa regime between the Russian Federation and the United States in the context of obtaining various types of visas by Russian citizens are analyzed. Some data on the number, structure and distribution of the Russian-speaking population in individual US states are given. It is shown that the emigration sentiments of Russians towards the United States are based on economic, social, and, to some extent, political factors. It is shown that in recent years the number of non-immigrant visas issued to Russians in the United States has significantly decreased. An additional factor in the decline in the number of visas issued was the pandemic, which disrupted the mobility of the population around the world. The situation in Ukraine led to a further cooling of relations between Russia and the United States, including the impact on the attitude towards the Russian-speaking population in the United States by the local population and authorities. There are precedents associated with discrimination against the Russian-speaking population in the United States. Cases of appeals of citizens of the Russian Federation to international human rights organizations for the protection of their rights were recorded. Also, since the beginning of the conflict situation between Russia and Ukraine, a new wave of emigration from Russia to the United States has begun. The US and EU countries have consistently introduced several packages of sanctions against Russia and the Russian leadership, which has led to the withdrawal of many foreign companies from the Russian market. At present, we can only draw preliminary conclusions, but there is reason to believe that among those leaving there are many young professionals who will have to build a life in a new reality for themselves. Therefore, one of the tasks that we set is to investigate the impact of new external factors on the formation of Russian-speaking communities in the United States.

Transforming the prohibition of torture in the context of rising terrorist threats

The article explores the content of the prohibition of torture in constitutional and international acts. The ban is absolute, as confirmed by the extensive practice of international human rights organizations. At present, a revision of the general attitude towards torture in Western Europe is taking place against the background of increasing terrorist threats. In the United States, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, at the level of Justice Department directives, certain methods of “intensive interrogation” were allowed in order to obtain information from persons captured during anti-terrorist operations. It was assumed that in the conditions of the “war on terror”, terrorists were not subject to the privileges provided for by the Geneva Conventions in relation to prisoners of war. Our study involves an analysis of a wide range of sources on problems of the use of torture in the context of countering terrorism, and provides an analysis of foreign scientific discussions of the admissibility of torture against terrorists. One argument is the lack of moral boundaries among terrorists themselves, capable of committing deadly attacks against civilians. Supporters of the use of torture proceed from the principle of extreme necessity for obtaining information about the planned terrorist acts. Opponents of torture proceed from the principle of the moral absolute, which does not justify attaining a goal by any means. In modern legal science there is a search for a balance of interests: the dignity of a person suspected of preparing a terrorist act, and the safety of other citizens, society, and the state.