dollars. they were spending money like they were drunken sailors. now lyle and erik menendez face the death penalty, first-degree murder. greedy rich kids kill ozzie and harriet on a sunday night in beverly hills, and there s much more to the story than that. the courtroom at the l.a. superior courthouse in van nuys was actually a very tiny courtroom, and so there were a dozen media people that got to see the trial in the courtroom every day. writer dominic dunn appeared to hear opening statements. i m just a writer here covering this. i had just gotten out of school and started as a cub reporter at this legal newspaper. i got one of the seats in the courtroom. there were the lawyers and the brothers. my editors and i knew from the get-go that it was going to be captivating as [bleep]. okay, now opening statements by the prosecution. thank you, your honor, and good morning. the only time i ve ever thrown up during a trial was right before opening statement
my guest today is kenneth roth, just retired after 30 years leading the campaign group human rights watch. he s been banned in a host of countries. is it time to acknowledge his brand of human rights campaigning isn t working? kenneth roth in cambridge, massachusetts. welcome to hardtalk. great to be back, stephen. it s good to be with you. it s good to have you on the show. it is indeed quite something, leading one of the world s highest profile human rights advocacy groups for some three decades. did you leave thatjob with a sense of defeat? no, not at all. infact, i mean, maybe i should start with your introduction, because, you know, your introduction was the common wisdom. you know, that democracy is in decline, that autocracy is ascendant. in fact, i think it s a bit more complicated than that. i mean, we are seeing the rise of autocratic voices, you know, the trumps of the world, in western democracies. but if you look at the leading autocratic countries and you put yo
elegant dinners. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. across the world, workers are finding their living standards squeezed by rising inflation. for some, it s not so much a squeeze as decapitation. technological change is driving job cuts in a host of industries. kenneth roth in cambridge, massachusetts. welcome to hardtalk. great to be back, stephen. it s good to be with you. it s good to have you on the show. it is indeed quite something, leading one of the world s highest profile human rights advocacy groups for some three decades. did you leave thatjob with a sense of defeat? no, not at all. infact, i mean, maybe i should start with your introduction, because, you know, your introduction was the common wisdom. you know, that democracy is in decline, that autocracy is ascendant. in fact, i think it s a bit more complicated than that. i mean, we are seeing the rise of autocratic voices, you know, the trumps of the world, in western democracie
oppression are stronger. my guest today is kenneth roth, just retired after 30 years leading the campaign group human rights watch. he s been banned in a host of countries. is it time to acknowledge his brand of human rights campaigning isn t working? kenneth roth in cambridge, massachusetts. welcome to hardtalk. great to be back, stephen. it s good to be with you. it s good to have you on the show. it is indeed quite something, leading one of the world s highest profile human rights advocacy groups for some three decades. did you leave thatjob with a sense of defeat? no, not at all. infact, i mean, maybe i should start with your introduction, because, you know, your introduction was the common wisdom. you know, that democracy is in decline, that autocracy is ascendant. in fact, i think it s a bit more complicated than that. i mean, we are seeing the rise of autocratic voices, you know, the trumps of the world, in western democracies. but if you look at the leading autocratic
declared in five regions, including auckland. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. across the world, freedom and democracy are in retreat. almost a third of the world s people live under authoritarian rule. that number is rising and that has grave implications for basic human rights. it s not that liberal democracies can t be abusive of rights, but generally their safeguards against oppression are stronger. my guest today is kenneth roth, just retired after 30 years leading the campaign group human rights watch. he s been banned in a host of countries. is it time to acknowledge his brand of human rights campaigning isn t working? kenneth roth in cambridge, massachusetts. welcome to hardtalk. great to be back, stephen. it s good to be with you. it s good to have you on the show. it is indeed quite something, leading one of the world s highest profile human rights advocacy groups for some three decades. did you leave thatjob with a sense of defeat