No matter how you slice it, Trump’s invasion of Venezuela is an act of naked aggression. It is blatantly illegal and sets a disturbing precedent of indifference to national sovereignty that tyrants worldwide will be eager to exploit. My Guardian op-ed: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

"This interview is compelling because he reflects on the moral and psychological toll of spending a lifetime documenting the worst forms of cruelty while explaining why, paradoxically, the work strengthened rather than eroded his faith in humanity." theysaidso.org/kenneth-roth...

Five years on, Beijing is apparently still afraid of me. I sought to fly Cathay Pacific from New York to Australia, transiting thru Hong Kong. Immigration authorities blocked me. Evidently my spending even a few hours in the airport was too scary for them. www.nytimes.com/2020/01/12/w...

Does today's proliferation of human rights problems mean the demise of human rights? No, not given the pushback, as I discuss with Leslie Vinjamuri of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on the new Deep Dish podcast. globalaffairs.org/commentary/p...

The two shipwrecked survivors of a Trump-Hegseth attack on a suspected drug-running boat who were then killed in a double-tap strike were murdered. So were the other 85 victims of the 22 attacks. Congress should be scrutinizing them all. I explain in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On Human Rights Day, we reaffirm no exemptions are permitted -- not for Israel committing genocide in Gaza, the United Arab Emirates arming the genocidal Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Putin committing war crimes in Ukraine, China persecuting Uyghurs in Xinjiang, or Trump. www.un.org/en/observanc...

Zohran Mamdani is rewriting the political rules around support for Israel. If support for Israel is no longer de rigueur in New York, it may soon not be obligatory in Washington. That is good news for Palestinians. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump’s Ukraine peace plan is a gift to Putin | Kenneth Roth

I'm thrilled that my book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments, has made the Economist's list of Best Books in 2025: www.economist.com/culture/2025...

Trump's peace plan for Ukraine is a Kremlin dream, a Ukrainian nightmare. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

There is no conceivable justification for Trump's saber-rattling toward Venezuela: 1. No U.N. Security Council mandate. 2. No conceivable "self-defense." 3. No mass slaughter to allow humanitarian intervention. It is plainly illegal, as I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump deserves credit for ending the genocide, at least for now. But we must maintain pressure on him to complete the job by forcing the Israeli government to accept a Palestinian state, which is the only viable lasting solution to the conflict. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

At a London book festival, I discuss how even today, the public's sense of right and wrong still can be used to restrain governmental misconduct -- a major theme from my book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments. iai.tv/video/a-worl...

The Nobel Peace Prize for Venezuela's pro-democracy leader, Maria Corina Machado, reminds us that as autocrats seize power in parts of the world, most of people of the world want democracy -- accountable government that is best placed to serve them. www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace...

As I explain on Fox News, Trump needs to convince Hamas that he will pressure Netanyahu to stop attacking Gaza after the hostages are released even though so far Trump has been arming, funding, and greenlighting the genocide. www.ktvu.com/video/1720246

At Jifeng Books, forced from Shanghai to Washington, I discussed how to address repression in China, and Beijing's threat to the global rights system, drawing from my book, Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4KL...

Please join me tomorrow at 6pm in DC with @kennethroth.bsky.social to share his experience of being deported from Hong Kong and sanctioned by the Chinese government, and why staying principled is, in fact, the most effective strategy for creating change: www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticket...

Trump is flouting the most basic principles of justice by threatening an evidence-free prosecutorial vendetta against George Soros. I explain: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/t...

Trump's threat to concoct criminal charges against George Soros, a generous progressive donor who represents the opposite of the violence that Trump pretends he promotes, is the next step in the Autocrat's Handbook that Trump is implementing. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am proud to have held a press conference in Manila in 2009 to spotlight the "drug war" death squads of then-Mayor Duterte. www.hrw.org/news/2009/04... Today those summary executions were among the ones the International Criminal Court charged Duterte for. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

No, Netanyahu, recognition of a Palestinian state is not a "prize for terrorism” but a penalty for your genocide. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

The International Court of Justice needs to change its jurisprudence on genocide. It currently treats ethnic cleansing (ridiculously) as a defense rather than, as in the case of Israel in Gaza, a motive. I explain: www.swissinfo.ch/eng/human-ri...

On Open Talk, I explain why Putin and Netanyahu should take heed from the fate of former Philippines President Duterte. They may hope for impunity by becoming president-for-life, but that is hard. Once a leader loses power, he is vulnerable to prosecution. youtu.be/Km0nCZyqcls?...

The timidity of UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and UN rights chief Volker Turk in addressing certain issues -- China's persecution of Uyghurs, Israel's genocide in Gaza -- impedes the ability of the UN Human Rights Council to do its job. I explain: dialogueinitiatives.org/how-states-a...

This is a terrible time for the International Criminal Court to be headless. The sexual assault accusation against the chief prosecutor should be resolved one way or the other. There are too many important decisions to be made to wait endlessly. foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/11/i...

If Trump's summary killing of 11 alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers becomes normalized, everyone would be at risk of him declaring "war" against a disfavored group and then shooting, rather than arresting and prosecuting, its members. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Drug traffickers are not combatants who can be summarily shot on sight, which is what the laws of war allow. Rather, they are criminal suspects who must be arrested and prosecuted. By ordering military force against alleged drug traffickers, Trump directed a summary execution, a criminal murder.

On CBC, I discuss how Trump is trying to destroy the International Criminal Court -- and why he will fail. www.cbc.ca/radio/frontb...

“Righting Wrongs is more than a memoir; it is both a history of modern human rights battles and a practical guide to advocacy. Roth writes with the same precision that defined his leadership: unsparing but not cynical, deeply informed yet accessible.” www.middleeasteye.net/discover/ken...

I agree that civil debate about Israel is still possible at Harvard. I held three workshops at the Kennedy School, well attended by students with a range of views, and we civilly discussed the issues of war crimes, apartheid, and genocide. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/o...

Germany should join a European post-ceasefire "reassurance" force in Ukraine to deter Putin from replenishing his forces and reinvading. And Germany should help Trump understand that the stakes in Ukraine aren't mere real estate but Ukraine's democracy. I explain: www.ips-journal.eu/interviews/t...

It may be difficult for a real-estate mogul like Trump to recognize, but Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not about slices of war-torn land in eastern Ukraine. It is about Ukraine’s democracy. Defending that democracy is key to ending the war. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Everyone can contribute to the defense of human rights by commenting about government misconduct (with friends, family, work acquaintances, or on social media). That builds the public sense of right and wrong that is key to holding governments accountable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkKD...

Because journalists document & help deter war crimes, their deliberate killing deserves special protection. The International Criminal Court prosecutor should bring focused charges when Israel deliberately kills journalists such as Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif. I explain: www.cjr.org/feature/urge...

I discuss lessons from my book, Righting Wrongs: Governments have their reasons to violate rights – it’s a way to stay in power, to snuff out opposition. The rights movement changes that only through pressure. That comes from public outrage that we generate and deploy. www.rrr.org.au/on-demand/se...

As I explain, Israel's deliberate killing of al Jazeera's journalists is an effort to close the eyes and ears of the world so there won't be witnesses as Netanyahu plans to intensify his invasion by moving troops into Gaza City, killing more civilians. www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8o8...

I spoke with the Guardian about how even Trump can be shamed into supporting human rights — not frontally, but by playing off his fragile ego to get him to do the right thing for the wrong reason. www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1CJ...

In discussing my new book, Righting Wrongs, I explain how we can get Trump to do the right thing for the wrong reasons in Gaza. His quest for self-aggrandizement can be used to pressure Netanyahu to stop the genocide. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdli...

I joined ABC News's "7:30" program to discuss what can be done to stop Israel's genocidal starvation of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. We also address the misuse of charges of antisemitism to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel's war-crime strategy. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

"In his important book published earlier this year, Righting Wrongs, Kenneth Roth...persuasively argues that exposing atrocities and advocating for justice is...a crucial, oftentimes the only, means of holding power accountable on the global stage." www.bostonreview.net/articles/gaz...

Despite feigning indifference, the Chinese government remains susceptible to international pressure, foremost because, given the lack of domestic elections, it craves the legitimacy that international acceptance can bring. That provides leverage for change. Excerpt: www.chinafile.com/library/exce...

On BBC "Weekend," I explained why Israel IS committing genocide in Gaza, despite the Israeli government's false denials. Beginning at 32:20. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Bosnia was the cite of genocide in the 1990s. I spoke to Bosnia's N1 TV about the deliberate dehumanization of people that so often precedes genocide. That is now happening in Gaza, where the Israeli government portrays Palestinians as "human animals." n1info.ba/svijet/roth-...

Why are we reluctant to recognize Israel’s genocide in Gaza? | Kenneth Roth

We shouldn't think of genocide only in terms of the maximalist killing of the Holocaust or the Rwandan slaughter. Genocide can also involve killing "part" of a group as a means to an end. That's what Israel is doing in Gaza, to advance ethnic cleansing. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

You don't get a Nobel Peace Prize for aiding and abetting genocide. If Trump wants one, he should use his enormous leverage to stop Israel's killing and starving of Palestinian civilians and to push for a Palestinian state. I explain in this interview: www.analystnews.org/posts/trump-...

It seems paradoxical to look to Trump to save the Palestinians, yet no recent US president has been better placed to insist that the Israeli government stop its extraordinary repression and brutality. We must press Trump to take the right steps. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The Hague Group of countries just condemned Israel's genocide and took steps to avoid complicity with it. I discussed the origins of this important effort with Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla on Al Jazeera's Reframe. www.youtube.com/watch?v=f61h...

A renowned Israeli genocide scholar: "My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people....I have been teaching classes on genocide for a quarter of a century. I can recognize one when I see one." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/15/o...

The German government ultimately acknowledged its role in the Holocaust. The Japanese government has largely swept its WWII crimes under the rug. That has led to very different levels of comfort in promoting human rights abroad. A lesson for others. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/o...