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
still less arrested. well, my guest is the world renowned human rights lawyer geoffrey robertson. is the campaign for global cooperation to uphold international law and human rights going backwards? geoffrey robertson, welcome to hardtalk. how big a deal is the icc s decision to charge vladimir putin with war crimes and issue an arrest warrant? it s very important because it has removed a credibility that he would otherwise have had. he is banned now from 123 countries. so, in addition, he may well end up in the hague, not soon, of course, but in years to come, there may be a coup and he may, like milosevic, be handed over to ease sanctions. he may, in time, he s only 69, be stumbling into the dock like some old nazi, as there are at the moment in germany, so it is not without significance. i m imagining people listening to you in moscow and giving a look of complete distain to what they have just heard. the fact is vladimir putin is still president of russia, comfortable in
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
removed from office, still less arrested. well, my guest is the world renowned human rights lawyer geoffrey robertson. is the campaign for global cooperation to uphold international law and human rights going backwards? geoffrey robertson, welcome to hardtalk. how big a deal is the icc s decision to charge vladimir putin with war crimes and issue an arrest warrant? it s very important because it has removed a credibility that he would otherwise have had. he is banned now from 123 countries. so, in addition, he may well end up in the hague, not soon, of course, but in years to come, there may be a coup and he may, like milosevic, be handed overfor. to ease sanctions. he may, in time, he s only 69, be stumbling into the dock like some old nazi, as there are at the moment in germany, so it is not without significance. i m imagining people listening to you in moscow and giving a look of complete disdain to what they have just heard. the fact is vladimir putin is still president o