Signs of Change at Human Rights Watch

Frayda Leibtag
OpEdNews.com
18 February '10

Changes at Human Rights Watch regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict are a good beginning, but the organization must do more to restore its reputation as a moral leader.

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) made many media headlines this year -- but not for its human rights work. Revelations regarding an HRW fundraising trip in Saudi Arabia and HRW senior military analyst Marc Garlasco's obsessive collection of Nazi memorabilia caused many to question the moral standing of HRW. Although HRW officials publicly rebuff any accusations of wrongdoing, recent events at HRW suggest that the organization is heeding calls for reform.


During HRW's 2010 World Report press conference in Tel Aviv, Program Director Iain Levine focused on Israel's potential as a moral advocate on the issue of banning "blood diamonds" mined under abusive conditions in Zimbabwe. He also noted Israel's "positive movement" toward investigating Gaza war operations, especially as compared to Hamas' lack of initiative. While Levine repeated allegations about the "increasingly disastrous blockade of Gaza" and IDF misuse of white phosphorous, he also mentioned Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, brutal internal repression by Hamas under the cover of war, and the endemic lack of accountability for torture in the Palestinian Authority.

Soon after the press conference, HRW announced that James F. Hoge Jr. will replace Jane Olson as the chair of HRW's board. Hoge's many landmark essays as the longtime editor of Foreign Affairs include "Tiananmen Papers," about the Chinese leadership's decision to crush the 1989 protests. Could the appointment of Hoge signify a shift in HRW's obsessive attention on the Middle East? Perhaps, under Hoge, HRW will devote more of its resources to substantively addressing severe human rights abuses in China and other countries with chronic human rights issues.

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