Kenneth Roth, addressing a conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on January 14, 2020. JOHANNES EISELE / AFP
After thirty years at the helm of the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW), American Kenneth Roth will leave the NGO’s leadership in August, HRW announced on Tuesday, April 26.
“It’s time to pass the torch,” the 66-year-old HRW director said on Twitter, without giving a specific reason or his future plans. He is pleased that his teams have “built a leading force in defending the rights of people around the world”.
I feel privileged to have led Human Rights Watch for three decades. With my colleagues and our supporters, we… https://t.co/hL6IXMOgpg
Under the direction of this American lawyer, “HRW has grown from a team of about 60 people with a budget of $7 million to a staff of 552 people covering more than 100 countries and with a budget of nearly $100 million,” writes he HRW in a statement.
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Nobel Peace Prize 1997
In 1997, the organization was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its work against anti-personnel mines. Under his leadership, HRW writes, the organization documented war crimes and crimes against humanity in Liberia, the former Yugoslavia, Peru and played “an important role in the creation of the International Criminal Court (CPI) in 2001,” despite strong opposition from The United states.
Mr. Roth also “globalized HRW’s advocacy activities” by establishing offices in Brussels, London, Tokyo, Sydney, Johannesburg… After the 9/11 attacks, US officials interrogated and tortured terror suspects.
In 30 years, Kenneth Roth has inevitably made many enemies,” the press release recalls. “Although he was Jewish (and had a father who fled Nazi Germany when he was 12), he was attacked over Human Rights Watch’s criticism of the Israeli government’s abuses,” HRW recalls.
Rwanda also slammed HRW after the organization reported on the crackdown under President Paul Kagame and the Chinese government “sanctioned” Mr Roth and expelled him from Hong Kong in 2020, the organization recalls.
Tirana Hassan, director of HRW’s program department, has been appointed interim general manager.
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