European governments are so intent on protecting Armenia's democracy from Russian interference that they are ignoring how Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan himself is undermining a free and fair election. I explain: foreignpolicy.com/2026/05/19/a...

The International Criminal Court member states should NOT defer to chief prosecutor Karim Khan's claims of having been exonerate for the sexual abuse allegations against him. They should insist on real fact-finding which the internal probe never did. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I discuss Israeli war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon -- on Asia One. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOlF...

European governments are so preoccupied fighting Russian interference in Armenia's June 7 parliamentary election that they are closing their eyes to PM Nikol Pashinyan's autocratic attacks on the opposition. That risks destroying democracy to "save" it. I explain: www.lefigaro.fr/vox/monde/l-...

Hungarian voters' rejection of their autocratic prime minister, Viktor Orban, holds important lessons for efforts in the United States to resist Trump's own autocratic tendencies. Here are nine lessons that I draw: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I explain on the BBC why Trump's threatened attacks on bridges and power plants in Iran would be war crimes. Perpetrators could be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (if Iran joins or a future US administration allows it) or by national courts using universal jurisdiction.

We do NOT live in a post-shame world. Leaders may be beyond personal redemption but still care about public opinion because they must pretend to serve the public rather than only themselves. Maintaining power by sheer repression is dangerous. I explain: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vInr...

Trump's war has ironically emboldened Iran. Netanyahu wants more war, as usual, but there's no reason to think the end result will be any better. It's time for Trump to end the warmongering and accept that diplomacy is the only solution. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump may think he is above the law, but if he carries out his threats to commit war crimes in Iran, there are two ways he can be prosecuted -- Iran joining the International Criminal Court, or a group of governments creating a special tribunal. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Americans are protected by two oceans, but the effects of Trump's war-of-choice are still being felt: oil prices are rising, fertilizer shortages may affect food prices, big cuts in housing, education & healthcare are proposed to fund Trump's war: I explain on India's NewsX World.

I describe on Al Jazeera English how Trump is overseeing and threatening war crimes in Iran. His defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is signaling that military commanders should be indifferent to protecting Iranian civilians. This is lawless, criminal conduct.

I joined Al Jazeera English today to discuss the war crimes that Trump and Netanyahu are committing in Iran by deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure based on the flimsiest of military pretexts. mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/atAvSK...

More than 100 international law experts (myself included) warn that U.S. strikes on Iran violate the U.N. Charter (no evidence that Iran posed an imminent threat that could justify a self-defense claim) and may be war crimes (attacks on civilian sites). www.justsecurity.org/135423/profe...

Trump's self-congratulatory speech last night was divorced from reality. He insisted that his war with Iran must continue for another two or three weeks but couldn't come up with a single coherent explanation for why. My take in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I discuss Israel's new deeply disturbing, discriminatory death-penalty law on ABC News. I describe its unseemly and unfair rush to execution with inadequate procedures for fair trials. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcuF...

I discuss with RNZ the lessons from my book as applied to today's big challenges to international law, human rights and democracy. The bottom line: we should not despair or become fatalistic. There is a lot we can do to fight back against this lawlessness. www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

If Trump acts in his threat to “obliterate” Iran’s electrical infrastructure, it would be a war crime, no different from what the International Criminal Court already charged four Russian commanders for doing in Ukraine. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/u...

Trump's struggle to justify continuing to bomb Iran reminds me of Nixon's "peace with honor" in Vietnam. Countless numbers of innocent people are killed just to allow a US president to save face. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump needs to reject Netanyahu's quest for a forever war. Instead of regime change, so far all the bombing has produced only regime reinforcement. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump's and Netanyahu’s attack on Iran is an illegal act of aggression -- no different from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine or Rwandan president Kagame’s invasion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

While some in the West are willing to forsake democracy for the far right, large numbers of people in the global South who live under autocracies repeatedly take to the streets to show they want democracy. This is no time for fatalistic despair. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

On book tour in New Zealand, I joined TVNZ's Q&A to discuss the defense of human rights in this hostile era. We address Israel-Gaza, China, Iran, Russia-Ukraine, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and more. www.1news.co.nz/2026/02/22/n...

My assessment of the new Syrian government so far — the major progress it has made and the considerable challenges before it, with Fadel Abdul Ghany. opiniojuris.org/2026/02/20/a...

I will be speaking today in Auckland, New Zealand about the issues from my book, Righting Wrongs. I'll be joined by Helen Clark and Amanda Ellis at an event sponsored by Global Women. globalwomen.org.nz/event/perspe...

To understand whether recent war-time attacks on civilians spell the end of international humanitarian law, examine the reaction. It has been weaker than it should be but still considerable, meaning it is premature to pronounce the law dead. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Trump didn't pull the trigger for the Minneapolis killings, but he bears political responsibility for having greenlighted his deportation agents’ regularly lawless conduct. I explain: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I joined India's NewsX World to discuss the hypocrisy of Western nations in closing their eyes to serious abuses by Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey -- and even India. www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIkO...

Censorship to defend Israel is the WRONG response to the horrible Bondi Beach massacre. Australia keeps getting it wrong, first with the disinvitation of a Palestinian writer from the Adelaide Festival, now with the over-the-top hate-speech law. I explain: www.deepcutnews.com/p/censorship...

I have been writing a lot for the Guardian over the past couple of years. I am thrilled that they have now chosen to name me a columnist. www.theguardian.com/profile/kenn...

We have a statute of limitations (usually 5 years) for most crimes. Why isn't there a statute of limitations for undocumented migrants recognizing that after a certain point we should respect the lives they've built in the United States? I explain in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

My friend and colleague Sari Bashi's memoir launches today - it's a heartfelt story of an impossible Israeli-Palestinian love that triumphed, against the odds and against Israeli law. I was moved by it, and I hope you'll check it out: ummforat.com/en/buy-upsid...

Regardless of whether Israel calls it a "settlement" or an "outpost," it is still illegal. Israel violates Art. 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention by transferring its population to occupied territory. These are all war crimes designed to block a Palestinian state, as I explain on Al Jazeera.

As Putin's invasion of Ukraine proceeds, it is worth remembering when he signaled his break from the West -- his infamous 2007 speech at the Munich Security Conference. This dramatic podcast recalls that moment through interviews with eyewitnesses, myself included. open.spotify.com/episode/2y1J...

I'm thrilled that the Observer has chosen my book Righting Wrongs as the "paperback of the week." observer.co.uk/culture/book...

What would the world look like if every state acted like Trump? I describe that might-makes-right world, and its extraordinary dangers and pitfalls, in my latest article in the Guardian: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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