On May 5, the Santa Barbara Committee of Human Rights Watch hosted its annual Voices of Justice event. Held at idyllic Lotusland, the event netted $900,000 for the work of its affiliated international nonprofit, Human Rights Watch (HRW).
The 300 guests enjoyed a mid-afternoon garden stroll, followed by a reception and program on the Great Lawn. HRW Executive Director Tirana Hassan addressed the gathering, noting that the rise of autocratic rulers who know that abuses thrive in darkness means that HRW is needed now more than ever. She explained how the nonprofit gathers evidence through interviews with survivors, witnesses, and even perpetrators, and supplements this by mining all other information to build an irrefutable factual foundation.
Hassan detailed how HRW sent teams to investigate both the October 7 attacks in Israel and Israel’s assault on Gaza. HRW is seeking to use the influence it has with both sides to minimize harm to civilians in real time and to build a case for justice in the future.
In Ukraine, Hassan related, HRW showed how Russian strikes on infrastructure and the civilian population cut people off from water, heat, and medical care. Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two of Russia’s top military leaders over these attacks.
HRW Digital Investigations Lab Director Sam Dubberley explained that HRW is a leader in a growing movement that uses and develops open-source investigation techniques and technologies to hold power to account. He detailed how this allows HRW to draw attention to abuses otherwise ignored, including the mass killings of Ethiopian migrants by Saudi Arabia at its border with Yemen. In that case, HRW uncovered 350 photos and videos on social media, analyzed satellite imagery, and interviewed victims. Its report galvanized media attention and, Dubberly related, international pressure that ended the killings.
In making the ask of donors before him, Dubberly posited: What if HRW could do more with AI? With the financial resources, Dubberly pitched, HRW can use AI to get behind closed borders and more frequently expose the lies of autocrats.
HRW Middle East and North Africa Division Director Lama Fakih shared the core areas of her team’s work: phasing out the use of existing fossil fuels and halting new production; protecting the most vulnerable people affected; and defending climate rights activists.
Fakih explained that these priorities reflect the interconnectedness of civil and political rights on the one hand and effective climate activism on the other. HRW seeks to show the abuses of this industry and how fossil-fuel-producing countries are using their economic gains to perpetuate more abuses.
She pointed to an HRW report issued last December on the fossil-fuel industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contributing to toxic air pollution, which was having egregious impacts on the health of residents. Those affected, according to Fakih, face repression and detention if they speak out. Migrants make up 88 percent of the population in the UAE and bear the brunt of these impacts.
Antonia Juhasz, HRW senior researcher, Environment and Human Rights Division, discussed HRW’s recent report on Cancer Alley in Louisiana, which detailed a community ravaged by cancer from industrial air pollution that stood at a rate seven times the national average. The research also documented the extreme toll in terms of respiratory ailments and maternal, reproductive, and newborn health harms. It exposed the legacy of extreme racism among generations of government regulators, leading to a concentration of industrial facilities in Black communities.
Juhasz pointed to HRW’s critical role, in general, of providing research to elevate voices of those on the front lines. She quoted a Cancer Alley victim who related that “she had never been invited into so many living rooms in Louisiana until after the HRW report was released.” That report was shared with the Biden Administration, which recently rolled out some key rules, including some recommended by HRW in its report.
After the sobering presentations, Maroon 5’s Adam Levine lightened the mood, delighting guests with a couple of songs. A supper reception and a performance by The Voice’s Lila Forde followed.
The Santa Barbara Committee raises awareness of human rights issues, generating financial support for HRW’s mission. In addition to the Voices for Justice event, the S.B. Committee hosts an HRW researcher a few times each year to speak with supporters and is planning more involvement locally. HRW, which accepts no government funding, has more than 600 staff covering more than 100 countries.
