Kenneth Roth

Human Rights Watch

Kenneth Roth is the executive director of Human Rights Watch, a post he has held since 1993. From 1987 to 1993, he served as deputy director.

Prior to Human Rights Watch, Roth was a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington. He also worked in private practice as a litigator.

Featured Work

NOV 29, 2012 Podcast

Human Rights Watch: Promoting Ethical Behavior When It's Contested

It's the job of Human Rights Watch to shine a spotlight on human rights abuses worldwide, including in the U.S., says its executive director ...

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012 - Events of 2011

APR 17, 2012 Podcast

Human Rights Watch World Report 2012

How have governments responded to the recent events in Libya, Syria, Egypt, and other countries such as Bahrain?  Ken Roth of Human Rights Watch gives ...

MAR 7, 2007 Podcast

Global Human Rights Leadership: Who Will Fill the Void Left by the United States?

With Washington's reputation as a leader on human rights gravely damaged by abuses committed in its five-year-old "global war on terror," who will fill the ...

OCT 6, 2005 Podcast

Ending Tyranny in Iraq: A Debate

Was the war in Iraq a humanitarian intervention? Yes, argues Tesón. What’s important is that it rid the world of a dictator. No, ...

OCT 6, 2005 Transcript

Ending Tyranny in Iraq: A Debate

Was the war in Iraq a humanitarian intervention? Yes, argues Tesón. What’s important is that it rid the world of a dictator. No, ...

FEB 3, 2005 Podcast

Three Challenges for the Human Rights Movement: Darfur, Abu Ghraib, and the Role of the United Nations

Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, discusses Darfur, Abu Ghraib, and the role of the UN.

Kenneth Roth

MAR 14, 2002 Transcript

Human Rights and the Campaign Against Terrorism

Governments around the world are wrong to use the war on terrorism as an excuse to disregard human rights principles, says Kenneth Roth. "The war ...

JAN 6, 2001 Article

Human Rights Dialogue (1994–2005): Series 2, No. 5 (Winter 2001): Human Rights in Times of Conflict: Humanitarian Intervention: Articles: The Choices for the International Human Rights Movement

Roth remarks that, for the pacifist, "the debate over humanitarian intervention is easy. War is the ultimate evil, to be opposed in any circumstance. For ...