Scholars Online
Sarah Leah Whitson
Human Rights Watch
Filmed in April 2010.
Do different cultures have different understandings of human rights? [1:07]
Why is it important for NGOs to remain objective? [1:29]
What challenges do human rights activists face? [1:01]
What are the most pressing human rights issues facing the Middle East and North Africa? [1:44]
How does U.S. policy influence human rights around the world? [1:56]
How does Human Rights Watch promote human rights? [2:28]
What types of rights does Human Rights Watch focus on? [0:49]
How does Human Rights Watch influence U.S. human rights policy? [1:07]
Why should high school students learn about human rights? [1:09]
Sarah Leah Whitson is director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa division. She has led landmark investigations of human rights conditions in Libya and Saudi Arabia and numerous advocacy missions in the region, and has overseen over twenty research missions. She has published articles on the Middle East in international and regional publications. Prior to her work at Human Rights Watch, she conducted human rights missions examining the impact of war and sanctions on the Iraqi civilian population, elections in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq, and human rights issues in southern Lebanon. Before joining Human Rights Watch, Whitson worked as an attorney in New York for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School.
