American lawyer and human rights activist
Sarah Leah Whitson is an American lawyer and the executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). She previously served as director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.
Early life and education.
Whitson was reared by an Armenian American mother, Ashi Whitson, who was born in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City and immigrated to the United States in 1960. Her father was from Texas. Whitson was a student at Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School for 12 years in Los Angeles and spent childhood summers with family in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
In 1988, Whitson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley, located in Berkeley, California, taking time to study abroad in Egypt. In 1991, she graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from the Harvard Law School, where she was a classmate of Barack Obama's.
Whitson has written articles for such publications as "Foreign Policy" and "Huffington Post".
Career.
Early career.
After completing law school, Whitson worked for Goldman Sachs, the investment banking firm, and the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen &amp; Hamilton.
At the same time, according to the New Republic, she "pursued activism on the side, volunteering for, among other groups, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (where she was co-organizer of a delegation in 2002 that lobbied Kofi Annan to press ahead with a United Nations investigation of Israel's Jenin operation) and MADRE (a women's rights group, with which she traveled to Lebanon on a solidarity mission in 1996 after an Israeli bombing campaign)." She served two terms on the board of directors of the New York chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, in 2001 and 2002.
Prior to working for HRW, she also served as general counsel to the Center for Economic and Social Rights, and traveled on human-rights missions to Iraq for that organization. In addition, she was a volunteer member of the Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights and the Armenian Bar Association, of which she remains a member. Moreover, Whitson was engaged in human-rights work for the Harvard Study Team and International Study Team missions examining the impact of war and sanctions on the Iraqi civilian population. She also participated in the International Human Rights Law Group's election-monitoring mission in Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq.
Human Rights Watch.
Whitson served as the director of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from 2004 to 2020, going on to become Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). She has published articles on the Middle East in international and regional publications and has led dozens of advocacy missions throughout the region and has overseen numerous research missions and reports on human rights conditions there.
Whitson's criticisms of Middle Eastern/North African governments.
Algeria.
In 2010, the Algerian government banned demonstrations in the capital and arrested organizers who claimed that state TV is merely a "propaganda machine." Whitson condemned the government's reaction and stated that it revealed "the sorry state of civil liberties in Algeria." In 2012, Algerian authorities were accused of delaying the trials of key terrorism cases. In the process of these delays, they detained some defendants for months and, in some cases, years in prison. Whitson criticized these delays, stating that president Abdelaziz Bouteflika-the president of Algeria- constantly speaks about judicial reform, "but when it comes to trying suspected militants, reform does not yet mean fairness." In May 2014 the Algerian government began to restrict workers' rights to form labor organizations. Human Rights Watch urged the International Labor Organization to push Algeria to remove this law. Whitson specifically commented on the issue and stated that Algeria should respect labor rights and let "workers organize unions and conduct union businesses without government interference."
Bahrain.
In 2010, when the Bahraini government established a travel ban against human rights defenders, Whitson stated that authorities are preventing human rights activists from "spreading information about a recent spate of arrests of opposition members" and called upon the government to lift the travel ban. In March 2013, human rights activist Sayed Al-Muhafdha was sentenced to 30 days in jail after tweeting a picture of an injured protester. Whitson criticized the ruling and stated that tweeting a picture does not constitute "inciting violence". Further, in April 2013 the government of Bahrain detained opposition protesters and raided their homes. Whitson criticized the Bahraini government and their "commitment to reform" and emphasized the importance of free speech and assembly. Whitson also noted that the Bahraini government is "not serious about reform" and simply thinks that it can persuade Western allies otherwise.
Egypt.
Since the military overthrow of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's security forces have launched a campaign of persecution against the Muslim Brotherhood, "with mass killings of protesters, dragnet arrests of its supporters and attempts to ban the Brotherhood," Whitson wrote in "The New York Times". She also noted that Egypt's military-backed government killed more than 1,000 protesters in 2013 – without being held to account. She criticized an Egyptian court for sentencing 529 Muslim Brotherhood members to death in a mass trial, even though only 70 of the accused appeared in court.
Medea Benjamin writing for "Huffington Post"quoted her as accusing Egypt's military government of trampling on Egyptian's basic freedoms.
Iran.
Whitson has criticized Iran for locking up political prisoners, as well as for what she calls its "patently unfair justice system," especially for those facing execution. She has also come down against Iran's treatment and legal discrimination of women, as well as the jailing of women's rights activists. "The detention of these women activists is a stark reminder that Iran's government deprives its people of their most basic and fundamental rights" added Whitson. She has criticized the personal status of Iranian women in matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody. In 2011, Whitson spoke out against Iran's politically motivated trial of two American hikers, Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, on supposed espionage charges, calling the trial "little more than a political jab at the United States." In 2009, following disputed Iranian presidential elections, Whitson condemned abuses of the pro-government Basij militias who were violently raiding the homes of opposition supporters, who had protested the election results, and beating residents in an attempt to end these protests.
Iraq.
In October 2006 Palestinian refugees in Iraq were threatened to be killed if they did not leave the country. Whitson condemned the US's and Iraqi government's inaction, stating that they "must provide adequate security to the Palestinian community in Baghdad. In June 2013 an Iraqi commander, Mehdi Gharawi, executed four men and a 15-year-old boy. Whitson condemned the execution and emphasized the importance of "providing security for the population, not insecurity." In 2012 the Iraqi government was accused of harshly violating freedom of expression and assembly during 2011—including the intimidation and detention of both activists and journalists. Whitson denounced the government's crackdowns: "Iraq is quickly slipping back into authoritarianism as its security force abuse protesters, harass journalists and torture detainees. In 2014 Iraqi militants and forces were accused of attacking residential areas in the province of Anbar in an attempt to carry out assaults against Al-Qaeda. Whitson condemned the government's tactics and said that civilians are caught in the middle of the conflict: "The government urgently needs to deal with the threat from al-Qaeda, but killing their own citizens unlawfully is not the way."
In a May 2013 op-ed for "The New York Times", Whitson criticized the Iraqi regime, arguing that "Maliki needs a new playbook – one with lessons on leadership and reform that will bring the country together on the basis of protecting every citizen's freedom, not tear it further apart."
Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
In 2005 Whitson denounced the Palestinian government after Hamas attacked civilians using "Qassam" rockets and mortar attacks. Whitson stated that "Hamas has repeatedly failed to respect a fundamental rule of international humanitarian law" and emphasized that these are unlawful attacks. Human Rights Watch also criticized the Palestinian government in 2007 when Fatah and Hamas, the two rival political factions, were accused of mistreating civilians and executing them. Human Rights Watch stated that these executions are "an extremely grave offense—in fact, a war crime" and urged both Fatah and Hamas to be responsible for civilians in their custody. During the end of 2012, Palestinian militants were accused of launching hundreds of rockets to urban centers in Israel. Whitson condemned these attacks as "unlawful" and stated that there is "no legal justification for launching rockets at populated areas." In 2012, human rights advocates Mahmud Abu Rahma and Yazan Sawafta were brutally beaten. Whitson criticized the Gaza government's inaction: "Hamas and the Palestinian Authority should not sit idly by while human rights defenders are being stabbed and beaten." In 2013, seven Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel were executed. The public executions sparked an outcry and Whitson criticized the government of Gaza for failing to investigate the executions, stating that "Hamas's inability or unwillingness to investigate the brazen murders of seven men makes a mockery of its claims that it's upholding the rule of law in Gaza." Whitson has persistently urged Obama to "tackle" prevalent human rights violations by leaders in both the Palestinian Territories and Israel, emphasizing that these problems "should not await a comprehensive settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Whitson characterised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assertions that protests at Columbia University and elsewhere were driven by antisemitism as "cheap &amp; disingenuous [...] smears".
Whitson has been accused frequently during her tenure at HRW of a bias against Israel. Martin Peretz of the New Republic has called her "a mendacious lady" who has "led a jaundiced crusade against Israel with the kind of laughable indiscretion that in better days would have put her on the margins of public debate." He has described her as having "an obsession with an evil Israel that faces no enemies but itself."
2004-2006.
Not long after she began working at HRW in 2004, Whitson said, "The removal of settlers and most military forces will not end Israel's control over Gaza." She also stated that "Under international law, the test for determining whether an occupation exists is effective control by a hostile army, not the positioning of troops...Whether the Israeli army is inside Gaza or redeployed around its periphery and restricting entrance and exit, it remains in control."
Whitson claimed that Israel had intentionally killed civilians during the 2006 war in Lebanon.
In 2006, Whitson called on the US to cut aid to Israel in response to settlement expansion and accused Israel of attempting to exert power over Gaza through control of its borders, infrastructure, airspace, and movement of its residents: "Israel controls the airspace, Israel controls electricity, Israel controls water. In fact, just a few weeks ago, Israel decided and proclaimed that it was going to shut off the electricity supply to Gaza in order to punish the Gazans for the fact that militants in Gaza were continuing to launch Kassams directed towards Israel. Israel controls the borders and continues to decide who can come in and out of Gaza, even at the now so-called open Egypt-Gaza border. So in many ways, there are aspects of effective control that remain. And under international law, the key determinant is whether or not the other party retains effective control over the territory."
2007-2009.
In a 2007 report, NGO Monitor accused HRW of a "clear, identifiable political bias in both the quality and quantity" of its coverage of Israel, and Whitson replied by accusing NGO Monitor of having an inadequate "understanding of international law." Israel, she said, "is the only country committing collective punishment by blockade because it is the only country that, directly and through its pressure on Egypt, is blocking all borders of a territory in order to squeeze its civilian population."
At a panel discussion under the auspices of The Century Foundation in July 2009, Whitson divided "the major human rights concerns in the Middle East" into two categories: one, "the general absence of basic human rights throughout the Arab world," and two, Israel's "occupation of territories" and its wars. She said that "Israel's wars in Lebanon and Gaza have...been a source of very serious violations of international humanitarian law, amounting in numerous incidents, to war crimes."
David Bernstein noted in a 2009 commentary that the ADC, of which Whitson was director before joining HRW, "support[s] the Arab and Palestinian cause against Israel, and