Kenneth Roth
@KenRoth
Former Human Rights Watch executive director (1993-2022). Now senior fellow, Yale University (Law and Jackson). My book: "Righting Wrongs" (Knopf/Allen Lane).
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Because China is a dictatorship, Beijing can ignore consumer desires and job creation in favor of its mercantilist policies. Yet Western governments treat human rights in China as a secondary (if that) concern.
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A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) even though he had a pending claim for asylum. That raises concerns that the Trump administration could deport him to China where he would face persecution.
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An embarrassed Trump falsely claims that his shocking $2.2 billion in revenue in 2025 came from the stock market when it mostly came from his sleazy cryptocurrency dealings.
On a visit to Syria, President Macron will stress France's commitment to a free, pluralistic Syria that respects all of its communities.
If Turkey wanted to become a member of NATO now instead of in 1952, it would not meet the criteria on democracy, rule of law, and human rights.
“Today, Israel is the pariah nation of the world, and ‘Zionist’ has become an epithet, something…unacceptable…, at least in progressive circles. Politicians running in Democratic primaries are routinely prompted to distance themselves from Israel.”
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The mere $300 million in earthquake recovery aid that the Trump administration has announced for Venezuela “is just a fraction of the estimated $8 billion in revenues from oil exports it has taken out of Venezuela” since Trump deposed Maduro in January.
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Global democracy is in better shape than you think. The latest update to one democracy index shows that the scores of nearly three-quarters of countries held steady or improved over the past year.
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Trump's apparent decision to resume sales of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey despite Netanyahu's objection is the latest illustration of the growing divide between the US and Israeli leaders.
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A man sent a scathing note to an immigration official after Trump's agents killed two demonstrators. A lawsuit says agents who came to his house were trying to intimidate him.
The growing list of disasters makes war seem increasingly pointless.
“A four-month-old Palestinian boy has died after an Israeli military checkpoint west of Ramallah [in the occupied West Bank] blocked access to urgent medical care.”
The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the escalating violence committed by the United Arab Emirates-armed paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan's al-Obeid region and set up an urgent inquiry into abuses there.
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Trump is back to threatening likely war crimes in Iran if current peace negotiations fail: "We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply.”
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Trump is back to threatening likely war crimes in Iran if current peace negotiations fail: "We can knock down their bridges in one hour, we can knock out their energy supply.”
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Democratic moderates are making a big mistake if they think they can make a case for electability with a candidate who unconditionally supports Israel.
Burkina Faso’s military junta has approved a law requiring every Burkinabè student wishing to pursue higher education abroad to obtain prior government authorization. Those perceived as enemies of the junta are likely never to receive authorization.
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Turkey's value to NATO has led Western leaders to ignore President Erdogan's increasingly autocratic rule and crushing of the country's civil society and democracy.
Philanthropy "funds programs—education, health, climate—while neglecting the freedom that makes those gains durable. Of roughly US$900B in annual global giving, the authors note, less than one percent flows to freedom, democracy, and civil liberties."
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Polls in advance of the midterms suggest that Republicans are due for a shellacking. The American people seem to want a government that serves them, not one that indulges the president’s petty grievances, enriches his family, fuels inflation, and belittles the affordability crisis.
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