Kenneth Roth Quotations

The people who carry out suicide bombings are not martyrs, they're war criminals, and so are the people who help plan such attacks. The scale and systematic nature of these attacks sets them apart from other abuses committed in times of conflict. They clearly fall under the category of crimes against humanity.

We spoke openly with the Libyan government about our concerns. We disagree on many substantive issues, but they are willing to listen and discuss.

should be focused on the illegality of these prisons, not the revelation of the illegality.

Moral squeamishness shouldn't stand in the way of finding solutions to this terrible crisis.

On pain of imprisonment, Libyans are not allowed to criticize the government, its political system, or its leader.

He has been the bull in the china shop. He has simply flexed his muscle and started swinging away.

He has been the bull in the china shop, ... He has simply flexed his muscle and started swinging away.

There is an enormous problem that when a government as influential as the United States flouts basic human rights standards, it undermines the standards and gives green light to other governments to do the same.

I think the effect of this will be to revive concern about the government's mistreatment of detainees and to get people to take another look at the legal basis. There are lots of lingering questions about how do you justify holding these people.

States like Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, or Zimbabwe, which are members of the old Commission, cannot be allowed onto the new Council.

The proposed new council is a major improvement over the old Commission on Human Rights. It would be reckless for the United States to force a vote because that will invite amendments from spoiler states to weaken the council. The time has come to accept the overwhelming consensus behind the council and to work to make it function effectively.

We call on all countries to pledge not to vote for governments that systematically repress their people.

There has been a significant backsliding on human rights and we are seeing that principally in terms of increasing restrictions on what it's possible to say in the press -- certainly what it's possible to say on the Internet.

When Western governments try to use economic pressure to secure human rights improvements, China's no-strings rule gives dictators the means to resist.

We welcome Libya's first steps toward reform. But the government has a long road to travel before it meets the international standards of human rights.

The reason highly abusive governments flock to the commission is to prevent condemnation of themselves and their kind, and most of the time they succeed. If you're a thug, you want to be on the committee that tries to condemn thugs.

There had been tremendous progress toward a consensus in creating a human rights council. That consensus has now been damaged because Bolton picked up the pages of the draft document and threw them into the air.

The result is that many pregnant rape victims are essentially assaulted twice, first by the rapist and second by public officials.

These promises of proper treatment are unenforceable. Any suspect who reveals mistreatment risks being sent back to the torture chamber.

Pregnant rape victims are essentially assaulted twice. First by the perpetrators who raped them, and then by officials who ignore them, insult them and deny them a legal abortion.

Property is an investment and it is susceptible to market forces, just like stocks

The moral authority of the United States depends on its working effectively with other countries to advance human rights protection ? not blocking a consensus proposal that makes so much progress for human rights. The current resolution can be made to work if the United States joins with other democracies to establish the new council and make it function effectively.

Despite the fact that rape victims have a formal right to legal abortion, that right was blocked by a maze of administrative hurdles and negligence and obstruction by public officials.

The Bush administration must appoint a special prosecutor to examine these abuses, and Congress should set up an independent, bipartisan panel to investigate.

You plunge yourself further and further into debt, rental prices drop, you can't make your mortgage payments and you're forced to sell for less than you owe.

This is an important symbolic visit. The real test is to see if the government is ready to implement the recommendations and show it's serious about eradicating torture.

As western governments improve relations with Libya, they should press the government to improve its respect for human rights. Libya's cooperation in fighting terrorism should not mean carte blanche to commit abuse.

It's a right that is broadly supported by the Mexican people, but it is a right that is rarely respected in practice.

It's an open question whether Bolton's throwing all the cards up in the air is meant to improve the council or to prove that the UN can't reform itself and therefore should be abandoned.

It's childish for the U.S. government not to cooperate with the new Human Rights Council when it cooperated for decades with the vastly inferior old Commission on Human Rights.

It obviously doesn't do everything we hoped for. But it is clearly better than the Human Rights Commission.

The U.S. government's use and defense of torture and inhumane treatment played the largest role in undermining Washington's ability to promote human rights.

Things have changed in Venezuela, but not for the better. There's been a continued consolidation of power on the part of Chavez.

There still is no appeal to an independent civilian court, ... The commissions still have Rumsfeld or his designate serving as prosecutor, judge, appellate judge and potential executioner. That has not changed one iota.

The new council should be a great improvement over the old Commission, but today's vote is only the beginning. Its ability to protect the weakest will now depend on the commitment of governments to curb rights violations.

Armed conflicts often involve discrepancies of power between adversaries. Allowing those discrepancies to justify attacking civilians would create an immense loophole in the protections of international humanitarian law.

The Mexican government needs to ensure that rape victims do not have to endure dangerous back-alley abortions or imposed pregnancies. A public official who fails to inform rape victims of how they can obtain a voluntary legal abortion is contributing to a human rights violation and should be disciplined.

In a one-party system intolerant of dissent, petitioning is one of the only ways that ordinary Chinese have to air their grievances.

If the U.S. accepts this consensus, the proposal is likely to be adopted. But if the U.S. insists on further amendments, we are likely to be worse off. Countries hostile to human rights protection are keen to introduce amendments that would weaken the new council.

If you're a thug, you want to be on the committee that tries to condemn thugs.

Iran will be the litmus test for whether China will become a responsible stakeholder in the world.

The hypocrisy factor has encouraged copycat techniques around the world by people who do like the U.S. does and has also weakened the United States as one of the traditional important supporters of human rights.

The EU largely ignored human rights abuses by its friends in Africa. It was very good about speaking out against the pariah Zimbabwe. But when it came to Angola, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, there was little if anything said.

The commission will continue until the creation of a council. The proposed new council is a major improvement.