Kenneth Roth—former executive director of Human Rights Watch will discuss his new book Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments with Mathias Risse—Berthold Beitz Professor in Human Rights, Global Affairs and Philosophy and Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University. This talk is being held at Cambridge Public Library and is a partnership with Harvard Book Store and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Ticketing

Entrance is free is you if you register on Eventbrite link.

Kenneth Roth will sign copies of his book after the presentation.

Under the leadership of Kenneth Roth, Human Rights Watch grew its staff to over 500 and was able to conduct investigations in 100 countries to uncover abuses and pressure offending governments to desist. Roth has grappled with the worst of humanity, taken on its biggest offenders and persuaded leaders from around the globe to stand up to their repressive counterparts.

Roth was the son of a Jewish butcher, who escaped Nazi Germany just before the war began. Roth grew up knowing full well how inhumane governments could be. His work took him all over the world to confront cruelty and injustice on its home turf. Roth arrived in Rwanda shortly after the Genocide; he scrutinized the impact of Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait and investigated and condemned Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians. He directed efforts to curtail the Chinese government’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims, to bring Myanmar’s officials to justice after the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims, to halt Russian war crimes in Ukraine, even to reign in the U.S. government. Roth’s strategies included the deployment of an ancient but powerful tool – “shaming” – and illustrates its surprising effectiveness.

His book is a chronicle of the ongoing global battle to redress injustice and tilt the scales toward good.