Kenneth Roth Biology
Kenneth Roth is an American attorney who has been the executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993. Born in the United States of America, Roth, a graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University, said that he was drawn to human rights causes through his family ties. He said that his father would keep his 3 young sons quiet as he cut their hair by telling stories of their grandfather’s butcher shop in Frankfurt, Germany. Roth stated that as they grew older, his father told them about living under the Nazis as a young boy and fleeing Nazi Germany in July 1938.
Kenneth Roth Career | Attorney
Jimmy Carter’s introduction of human rights as part of us policy within the late Nineteen Seventies further inspired Roth to take on human rights as a vocation, Roth has said.
Before starting at Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 1987, Roth worked in private practice as a litigator and served as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington DC.
During early years of his work in the human rights movement, Roth focused on the Soviet imposition of martial law in Poland in 1981.
Roth joined Human Rights Watch in 1987 as deputy director. His initial work targeted on Haiti, that was simply rising from the Duvalier dictatorship but continued under military rule. Since then, Roth has traveled internationally on behalf of Human Rights Watch.
His life history on the HRW web site says he has “special experience on: problems with justice and responsibility for atrocities committed in the quest for peace; military conduct in war below the wants of international humanitarian law; scheme policy, including resort to torture and arbitrary detention; the human rights policies of the u. s., the european Union, and the United Nations; and, the human rights responsibilities of multinational businesses.”
Roth has published numerous articles, newspaper op-eds, and articles in academic journals, including “Domestic Violence as an International Human Rights Issue”, in Human Rights of Women: National and International Perspectives; “The Case for Universal Jurisdiction”; “The Charade of US Ratification of International Human Rights Treaties”; and “The Law of War in the War on Terror – Washington’s Abuse of Enemy Combatants” His Twitter handle is @KenRoth.
In Sept 2007, Roth gave a lecture”The Dynamics of Human Rights and the Environment” at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series. Roth frequently addresses audiences all round the world, including at the U.N in New York, universities and conferences, including the Munich Security Conference and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Kenneth Roth Age
Roth was born on September 23, 1955, in Elmhurst, New York, United States. He is 64 years old. He celebrates his birthday on September 23 every year.
Kenneth Roth Net Worth
Working as an American Attorney, there is no doubt Kenneth earns a good salary and has been able to accumulate good net worth. However, his exact net worth has not yet been revealed but the information will be updated as soon as it is available.
Kenneth Roth Human Rights Watch
In 1987, Roth was employed by Aryeh Neier to be deputy director of HRW and from 1993 (when Neier left to become head of George Soros’ Open Society Institute), Roth has been the organization’s executive director.
Under Roth’s leadership, Human Rights Watch has grown eight-fold in size and vastly expanded its reach. It now operates in more than 80 countries.
During Roth’s tenure, Human Rights Watch has documented war crimes in Bosnia, the DRC, Iraq and Sierra Leone. Human Rights Watch researchers have testified at international tribunals. The organization has also done extensive work on child soldiers.
Human Rights Watch published reports on Liberian dictator Charles Taylor, Peru’s Alberto Fujimori, and Chile’s Augusto Pinochet, among others, who were subsequently convicted for crimes against humanity.
As a founding member of the International Campaign to ban Landmines, in 1997 Human Rights Watch shared the Nobel Peace Prize for assisting bring about the Mine Ban Treaty.
Following WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s arrest, Roth stated that Assange’s prosecution in the US for publishing leaked documents is “a major threat to global media freedom.”
Kenneth Roth Anti-Israel Bias
Roth has been criticized by the Jerusalem-based Non Govermental Organization Monitor for allegedly being biased against Israel. Gerald M. Steinberg has been a long-time critic of Roth’s role as head of Human Rights Watch from 1993. Writing in a 2004 Jerusalem Post article in response to Roth’s op-ed in which Roth accused Non Governmental Organization Monitor of disregarding basic facts, “fictitious allegations of bias” and a “fantasy-based discourse” which “does a deep disservice to Israel”.
In August 2006, during the fight between Hezbollah and Israel, Roth rejected criticism of HRW’s allegations against Israel, writing in a letter to the editor of The New York Sun: “An eye for an eye — or, more accurately in this case, twenty eyes for an eye — may have been the morality of some more primitive moment. But it is not the morality of international humanitarian law which Mr. Bell pretends to apply.” In response, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) referred to Roth’s rhetoric as a reflection of “classic anti-Semitic stereotype about Jews”., arguing that disproportionate retaliation was justified and necessary against Israel’s Arab enemies, and that Israel’s actions in the war were justified as legitimate attacks on military targets against an enemy using human shields.
In reaction to Richard Goldstone’s recantation of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict report, HRW Founder Robert Bernstein said to the Jerusalem Post in April 2011, referring to Roth, that it “is time for him to follow Judge Goldstone’s example and issue his own mea culpa.”
An analysis of his tweets by NGO Monitor, alleges that Kenneth Roth shows “significant levels of sarcasm, vitriol, and deep-seated hostility” towards Israel.
On April 26, 2015, he drew criticism for attacking Israel for sending humanitarian aid to Nepal during the April 2015 Nepal earthquake, due to its blockade of Gaza, which he saw as a humanitarian crisis of “Israel’s own making”.
Kenneth Roth Venezuela
On Dec 17, 2009, 118 scholars from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, México, the UK, the US, Venezuela, and other countries publicly criticized HRW in an open letter to the HRW Board of Directors in response to an HRW report, A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela.
The report was criticized for bias against the govt of Republic of Venezuela and its President, Hugo Chavez, stating that it “does not meet even the most minimal standards of scholarship, impartiality, accuracy, or believability.” one of the letter’s authors, Hugh O’Shaughnessy, accused HRW of victimizing false and misleading data, and said the HRW report was “put together with the kind of know-nothing Washington bias…” Kenneth Roth responded, stating that the letter misrepresented “both the substance and also the supply material of the report.”
Kenneth Roth Awards And Honors
- City of Athens Democracy Award, 2016
- Doctor of Humane Letters, Brown University, 2011
- Doctor of the University, University of Ottawa, 2010
- Doctor of Laws, Bowdoin College, 2009
- William Rogers Award, Brown University, 2009
- Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, Tufts University, 2004
Frequently Asked Questions About Kenneth Roth
Who is Roth?
He is one of America’s best-known and loved attorneys.
How old is Roth?
He is 64 years old as of 2019. He was born in 1955.
How tall is Roth?
His heigjht information is not available.
Is Roth married?
He is married to his wife Annie Sparrow who is an Australian doctor.
How much is Roth worth?
His estimated net worth is still under review.
How much does Roth make?
Information on his earnings is not available.
Where does Roth live?
We have no information on where he resides.
Is Roth dead or alive?
He is very much alive and healthy.
Where is Roth now?
He is an American Attorney who has been the executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993.
Kenneth Roth Twitter
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