Kenneth Roth

Kenneth Roth is the former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022) and a visiting professor at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. His book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, was published by Knopf and Allen Lane in February.

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Articles by Kenneth Roth
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, left, talks to registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler in The Hague.
International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Karim Khan, left, talks to registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler in The Hague.

The ICC Needs a Chief Prosecutor

Argument
Kenneth Roth, Antonia Mulvey
A line of people including one person holding a large U.S. flag and smaller rainbow flag on a pole, some draped with rainbow flags, cross a crosswalk with the U.S. Capitol in the distance.
A line of people including one person holding a large U.S. flag and smaller rainbow flag on a pole, some draped with rainbow flags, cross a crosswalk with the U.S. Capitol in the distance.

How Progressives Are Unwittingly Aiding the Rise of Autocracy

Argument
Kenneth Roth
Farmers pick cotton in a field in Hami in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.
Farmers pick cotton in a field in Hami in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region.

Trump’s Trade War Should Target China’s Forced Labor

Argument
Kenneth Roth
A Boeing jet plane is parked on a tarmac, partly obscured through the blurred links of a chainlink fence in the foreground. The plane is primarily navy blue on top and white on the bottom, with a red stripe separating the two sections, and the name TRUMP is printed in large capital letters on the hull. An American flag is painted on the tail wing.
A Boeing jet plane is parked on a tarmac, partly obscured through the blurred links of a chainlink fence in the foreground. The plane is primarily navy blue on top and white on the bottom, with a red stripe separating the two sections, and the name TRUMP is printed in large capital letters on the hull. An American flag is painted on the tail wing.

Sanctioning the ICC Could Put Most Travel Off-Limits for Trump

Analysis
Kenneth Roth
A hole in a wall of a prison shows people inside touring a cell.
A hole in a wall of a prison shows people inside touring a cell.

Assad Must Face Justice for His Government’s Atrocities

Argument
Annie Sparrow, Kenneth Roth
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a meeting in Washington on July 25.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive for a meeting in Washington on July 25.

If Harris Believes in International Law, She Needs to Show It

Argument
Kenneth Roth
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on July 13, 2023 in New York City.
Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at the United Nations headquarters on July 13, 2023 in New York City.

Biden Should Not Stand in the Way of the ICC

Argument
Kenneth Roth
A man waring scrubs and holding a book walks through a damaged room at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. A hole is seen in one wall and bedding, beds, and other equipment are tossed about the space.
A man waring scrubs and holding a book walks through a damaged room at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. A hole is seen in one wall and bedding, beds, and other equipment are tossed about the space.

Destroying Gaza’s Health Care System Is a War Crime

Argument
Annie Sparrow, Kenneth Roth
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the start of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, on May 15, 2017.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands at the start of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, on May 15, 2017.

How Putin and Xi Are Trying to Break Global Human Rights

Analysis
Kenneth Roth
A silhouette of diplomats meeting in Belgrade on Dec. 3, 2015.
A silhouette of diplomats meeting in Belgrade on Dec. 3, 2015.

The U.N. Gave a Quiet Diplomat the Wrong Job

Argument
Kenneth Roth
A World Food Programme convoy of trucks on their way to the Tigray region are seen near the village of Erebti, Ethiopia, on June 9.
A World Food Programme convoy of trucks on their way to the Tigray region are seen near the village of Erebti, Ethiopia, on June 9.

Africa Must Do Its Part to Break Ethiopia’s Abusive Tigray Siege

Argument
Kenneth Roth
Musician turned politician Bobi Wine (C) is joined by other activists on July 11, 2018 in Kampala, Uganda, during a demonstration to protest a controversial tax on the use of social media.
Musician turned politician Bobi Wine (C) is joined by other activists on July 11, 2018 in Kampala, Uganda, during a demonstration to protest a controversial tax on the use of social media.

How Democracy Can Defeat Autocracy

Argument
Kenneth Roth
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden

Biden Can’t Make Washington a Beacon for Human Rights by Returning to Business as Usual

Argument
Kenneth Roth
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Stanford University in Stanford, California, on July 24, 2018.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at Stanford University in Stanford, California, on July 24, 2018.

Pompeo’s Commission on Unalienable Rights Will Endanger Everyone’s Human Rights

Argument
Kenneth Roth
governments-coronavirus-foreign-policy-brian-stauffer-illustration-authoritarian_3_2
governments-coronavirus-foreign-policy-brian-stauffer-illustration-authoritarian_3_2

The Future of the State

Roundup
James Crabtree, Robert D. Kaplan, Robert Muggah, Kumi Naidoo, Shannon K. O'Neil, Adam Posen, Kenneth Roth, Bruce Schneier, Stephen M. Walt, Alexandra Wrage, Stefan Theil
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