| U.S.-Iraq ProCon.org | HOME | CLOSE |
| Name: | Human Rights Watch (HRW)
|
||||||||
| Position: |
Con
to the question "Should the U.S. have attacked Iraq?"
|
||||||||
| Reasoning: |
"Human Rights Watch ordinarily takes no position on whether a state should go to war. The issues involved usually extend beyond our mandate, and a position of neutrality maximizes our ability to press all parties to a conflict to avoid harming noncombatants. The sole exception we make is in extreme situations requiring humanitarian intervention...
In examining whether the invasion of Iraq could properly be understood as a humanitarian intervention, our purpose is not to say whether the U.S.-led coalition should have gone to war for other reasons. That, as noted, involves judgments beyond our mandate. Rather, now that the war’s proponents are relying so significantly on a humanitarian rationale for the war, the need to assess this claim has grown in importance. We conclude that, despite the horrors of Saddam Hussein’s rule, the invasion of Iraq cannot be justified as a humanitarian intervention." "War in Iraq: Not a Humanitarian Intervention," by Ken Roth, January 2004
|
||||||||
|
Credibility/ Ranking: |
|
||||||||
| Organization | |||||||||
| A. Description: |
"Human Rights Watch is the largest human rights organization based in the United States. Human Rights Watch researchers conduct fact-finding investigations into human rights abuses in all regions of the world. Human Rights Watch then publishes those findings in dozens of books and reports every year, generating extensive coverage in local and international media." "About HRW," http://hrw.org/about/whoweare.html (accessed 6/21/07)
|
||||||||
| B. Mission: | "Human Rights Watch believes that international standards of human rights apply to all people equally, and that sharp vigilance and timely protest can prevent the tragedies of the twentieth century from recurring. At Human Rights Watch, we remain convinced that progress can be made when people of good will organize themselves to make it happen." "About HRW," http://hrw.org/about/whoweare.html (accessed 6/21/07)
|
||||||||
| C. Structure: | Nonprofit organization
|
||||||||
| D. Members: | Non-membership
|
||||||||
$103 million (Total net assets FY2006)
|
|||||||||
| F. Sr. Executive: | Kenneth Roth
|
||||||||
| G. Title: | Executive Director
|
||||||||
| H. Contact Info: |
|
||||||||
| I. # of offices: | 10 offices worldwide
|
||||||||
| J. Staff: | 223 (December 2005)
|
||||||||
| Relevant Affiliations: | None listed | ||||||||
Organization/VIP/Other