[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E479-E480]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING KENNETH ROTH'S RETIREMENT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 11, 2022

  Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Kenneth Roth, 
Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, who has announced his 
retirement after serving the organization for nearly 30 years at its 
helm. During this time, he developed the organization to become a 
leading defender of human rights with a budget of nearly $100 million 
and over 500 staff operating in 100 countries.
  Mr. Roth, a former federal prosecutor in New York and during 
investigations of the Iran-Contra Affair, began his career in human 
rights work as a volunteer for 6 years before joining HRW as Deputy 
Director in 1987. At the time, HRW consisted of regional human rights 
monitoring groups, including Helsinki Watch--a product of the 1975 
Helsinki Accords to monitor compliance of human rights in Soviet bloc 
countries that called for the ``naming and shaming'' of violators of 
human rights--Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Middle East Watch and Africa 
Watch. Jointly, the groups were known as ``The Watch Committees.'' The 
year following his appointment as Deputy Director, the collective was 
consolidated under the name Human Rights Watch. In 1993, Kenneth Roth 
was named Executive Director of HRW following its first Director, Aryeh 
Neier.
  As Executive Director, Mr. Roth demonstrated an even-handed approach 
to his position and has not shied away from bringing attention to human 
rights violations committed by governments and individuals around the 
world. HRW has brought to our awareness abuses occurring in Ethiopia, 
Yemen, Egypt, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Syria and in China's Xinjiang 
Uyghur Autonomous Region documenting repression of the Uyghur minority 
population, to name a few countries. HRW reports have also criticized 
U.S. administrations over the use of ``black sites'' and laws on 
surveillance following the September 11 attacks, anti-immigrant and 
anti-Muslim policies, and isolationist policies. Additionally, through 
its staff reporting and advocacy, HRW reports have been instrumental in 
investigations and convictions of warlords, wartime leaders and 
individuals accused of committing human rights abuses, including 
Liberia's Charles Taylor, Peru's Alberto Fujimori and Bosnian Serb 
leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.
  Mr. Roth has also demonstrated that he is no stranger to ``good 
trouble.'' Roth has received criticism from the Rwandan government over 
HRW's reporting of genocide and other crimes committed by its 
President, Paul Kagame. Additionally, he was denied entry into Egypt in 
2014 over the report All According to Plan: The Rab'a Massacre and Mass 
Killings of Protestors in Egypt, which placed responsibility for mass 
killings of protestors following the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi 
on senior officials, including then Defense Minister and current 
President, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. He faced Chinese sanctions and was 
similarly denied entry into Hong Kong, where he planned to release the 
World Report 2020 showing Chinese policies to ``restrict freedom of 
religion'' in Tibetan areas, forced and deceptive marriages through 
``bride trafficking,'' violations of the Refugee Convention by 
returning North Korean refugees, and forced detainment of Turkic 
Muslims in ``political education'' camps--a tactic currently being used 
by Russia against Ukrainian children.
  Over the span of his 30-year career, Kenneth put feet on the ground 
meeting with communities impacted by human rights violations, speaking 
with over 2 dozen world leaders to address and end abuses, and leading 
fact-finding investigative trips to over 50 countries, including Haiti, 
Cuba, Kuwait, Iraq, and Syria. He focused HRW teams on issues 
pertaining to women, children, and senior populations; refugees; 
persons with disabilities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
people; poverty and inequality; climate change; and on human rights 
abuses here in the United States of America. HRW began documenting 
abuses in realtime with the aim of ending atrocities sooner rather than 
later and incorporating videos and graphics in its reports as well as 
using social media for advocacy. The organization supported bringing 
perpetrators to justice through war crimes tribunals at the United 
Nations Security Council and the creation of the International Criminal 
Court as a body to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and 
genocide. Kenneth pushed the ICC to

[[Page E480]]

prohibit cluster munitions and the use of child soldiers, and in 1997, 
the HRW shared a Nobel Peace Prize for its work to ban antipersonnel 
landmines.
  As Kenneth Roth prepares to step down from his position amid Russia's 
ongoing war in Ukraine, I am mindful of the human rights abuses being 
committed in both Ukraine and inside of Russia at the orders of 
Vladimir Putin. War crimes, crimes against humanity and strong evidence 
of genocide abound in Ukraine. Political arrests, which HRW has 
documented extensively in countries as nearby as Nicaragua and Cuba and 
ones as far away as Uzbekistan, are taking place in Russia with the 
arrest of protestors, journalists, politicians, and anyone who dares 
speak out against Putin's war in Ukraine, including the recently jailed 
Russian politician and journalist, Vladimir Kara-Murza. Kenneth Roth's 
reports have criticized Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which remains a 
clear, gross, and uncorrected violation of Helsinki Final Accord 
principles by Putin and his regime. In April 2022, HRW's operations in 
Russia were suspended as part of Putin's silencing of criticism over 
his unprovoked war.
  In recognition of Kenneth Roth's 30-year leadership of Human Rights 
Watch and the organization he has built to bring attention to human 
rights abuses around the world and the recommendations he has made to 
end and correct these atrocities, I ask my colleagues to join me in 
saying job well-done and in wishing him well in his retirement. His 
presence will surely be missed, but I am confident that the human 
rights monitoring infrastructure put into place will remain strong and 
that his leadership will serve as a guide for future leaders of HRW and 
for all who work in the areas of human rights monitoring and advocacy.

                          ____________________