In an exclusive interview, the Arrested Lawyers Initiative speaks with Kenneth Roth, the former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and author of Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments.
For nearly three decades, Kenneth Roth has been one of the world’s leading voices in the struggle for human rights. As the longtime head of Human Rights Watch, he guided the organization through some of the most turbulent chapters of modern history—from the genocide in Rwanda to the wars in Syria and Ukraine—helping expose abuses and shape global advocacy.
In Righting Wrongs, part memoir and part strategic manual, Roth reflects on lessons from those years: how to confront dictators, pressure powerful governments, and defend the victims of repression. Speaking to the Arrested Lawyers Initiative, he discussed the personal roots of his commitment, the evolving challenges of human rights advocacy, and his views on the growing crisis of democracy worldwide.
“There’s always something you can do”
Roth traces his lifelong dedication to human rights to his family’s history. His father fled Nazi Germany in 1938 as a 12-year-old boy, an experience that left a lasting moral imprint.
“I grew up with Hitler stories,” Roth recalled. “I was very aware of the evil that governments could do—and that’s a big part of what drove me to try to prevent similar atrocities.”
While his book delves into this personal history, it is also a “strategy guide,” he said—explaining what works and what fails when confronting abusive governments. “Even in dire circumstances, there’s always a way to increase the cost to a government of its repressive practices,” Roth noted.
Human rights in an age of authoritarian resurgence
Roth acknowledged that today’s human rights landscape is increasingly hostile, as populist and autocratic leaders—from Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—make repression a rallying cry. Yet, he argued, pressure still works.
“When you go to Orbán and say you’re mistreating immigrants, he says, ‘Of course I am—that’s my political program,’” Roth said. “But we found other levers. We got the European Union to condition subsidies on ending rule-of-law violations. That put real pressure on him.”
In his view, engagement without consequences is futile: “Talking to deliberately repressive governments is utterly meaningless. You’ve got to pressure them,” he said, criticizing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for what Roth called his “naïve” silence on China’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims.
The myth that repression brings prosperity or security
Roth dismissed claims that sacrificing rights advances development or safety. “Autocrats who claim to promote growth often just serve themselves,” he said, citing Venezuela and Zimbabwe as examples of ruin under repressive rule.
He also argued that violating rights in the name of security backfires, recalling the U.S. “war on terror.”
“Torture made Americans less safe—it alienated communities whose cooperation was vital,” he said. “That’s why these shortcuts are utterly misguided.”
Justice and accountability—however delayed
On international justice, Roth acknowledged the limits of institutions like the International Criminal Court, which lack enforcement powers. Yet he insists they matter. “Being charged by the ICC changes everything,” he said. “Putin, Netanyahu—people like that now have to think twice before stepping down or traveling. Justice may be slow, but it casts a long shadow.”
Double standards and the erosion of credibility
Asked about Western double standards, Roth was blunt: “Governments undermine their credibility when they condemn Putin’s crimes in Ukraine while defending Israel’s war in Gaza,” he said. “That inconsistency alienates much of the Global South. It’s shortsighted and damaging.”
On Turkey: “A complete injustice”
Turning to Turkey, Roth pulled no punches on the Erdoğan government’s use of digital surveillance and anti-terror laws against lawyers and perceived critics. “Convicting people based simply on (ByLock) is ridiculous,” he said. “It’s a complete injustice. The European Court has ruled this, but Ankara is not abiding.”
He criticized European governments for prioritizing migration control and geopolitical interests over the defense of human rights in Turkey: “They’re shortsighted. Allowing Erdoğan’s autocracy to deepen will only make him a more unreliable ally.”
“Lawyers who justify the unjustifiable”
Roth expressed particular dismay at lawyers who enable repression.
“It bothers me most when lawyers justify the unjustifiable,” he said. “We saw it under George W. Bush with torture memos, and we see it now when legal advisors legitimize unlawful killings. It’s an abdication of professional responsibility.”
The loss that still haunts him
When asked about the struggle that continues to haunt him, Roth cited the international community’s failure to hold China accountable for the mass internment of Uyghur Muslims. “We lost by just two votes at the UN Human Rights Council,” he said. “It was heartbreaking. Millions remain in forced labor or under surveillance, and too many governments stay silent.”
A warning for the United States
Roth also voiced deep concern about the rise of authoritarian tendencies within the U.S. itself, particularly under Donald Trump.
“Trump is following the classic autocrat’s playbook—demonizing minorities, attacking judges, journalists, civil society,” he said. “The battle for the soul of American democracy is underway right now.”
Despite the grim trends, Roth remains convinced that persistence matters. “We don’t win every time,” he said, “but when you stop even one atrocity, that’s a life-and-death difference. That’s what kept me going.”
Categories: Interviews, Turkey Human Rights Blog