We believe that sustainable peace and development can be achieved only through efforts to prevent human rights abuses and hold those responsible for such crimes accountable. We use empirical research methods to investigate and expose serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. In our studies and reports, we recommend specific policy measures that should be taken by governments and international organizations to protect vulnerable populations in times of war and political and social upheaval.

Established in 1994 through the generosity of the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation, the Human Rights Center (HRC) has conducted major human rights investigations in more than a dozen countries, including the United States, Iraq, Rwanda, Uganda, Burma, and the former Yugoslavia. HRC has used DNA analysis to reunite families divided by war and conducted population-based studies to ensure that the voices of victims are heard by policymakers. HRC’s research has been provided to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the International Criminal Court.

The Center has provided more than 100 fellowships to graduate students over the past ten years, and its alumni have taken leadership positions with universities, nongovernmental organizations, and activist groups worldwide.

In 2005, the Human Rights Center formed a major partnership with Tulane University’s Payson Center for International Development. HRC faculty and staff have also collaborated with leading human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and UNICEF, among others, to promote justice and postwar reconstruction in war-torn countries. 

The Human Rights Center is part of International and Area Studies at UC Berkeley and works closely with the International Human Rights Law Clinic at Boalt Hall School of Law, the UC Berkeley–UCSF Joint Medical Program, and the UC Berkeley War Crimes Studies Center.