Thread by @HillelNeuer

1/ Human Rights Watch took funds from Saudi billionaire tied to the regime—after reporting his company's abuse of workers—and promised not to promote #LGBT rights with the grant. (Source: @theintercept.) Worst crisis to hit @hrw since its 1978 founding by my friend Bob Bernstein.

2/ HRW now admits that its chief @KenRoth himself solicited the donation from Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber. Roth himself signed the agreement with the accused Saudi human rights abuser promising that HRW would not use the funds to promote LGBT rights. hrw.org/news/2020/02/2…

3/ @hrw: "In 2012, Human Rights Watch made a deeply regrettable decision to accept a donation that included conditions that the funds not be used to support HRW’s work on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the Middle East and North Africa...."

4/ ".We also regret that the grant was made by the owner of a company that Human Rights Watch had previously identified as complicit in labor rights abuse. This decision stood in stark contrast to our core values and our longstanding commitment to LGBT rights as an integral..."

5/ "...part of human rights. Accepting a grant with such a condition was anathema to HRW’s commitment to protecting the human rights of all people. Accepting a grant with such a condition was anathema to HRW’s commitment to protecting the human rights of all people."

6/ "Human Rights Watch has returned the full donation to the donor & will launch a comprehensive independent investigation to understand why our stringent protocols and policies on vetting grants and donors failed."

hrw.org/news/2020/02/2…

7/ @KenRoth's judgment here is shocking because he solicited the tainted Saudi donation 3 years AFTER @JeffreyGoldberg @TheAtlantic exposed how @hrw under Roth solicited Saudi funds for its "war with Israel's 'supporters', who are liars and deceivers." theatlantic.com/international/…

8/ After the documented exploitation of workers by Al Jaber's company, his foundation repeatedly used the agreement & photos with Human Rights Watch as an international stamp of moral legitimacy.

1: mbifoundation.com/downloads/MBI%…
2: mbifoundation.com/news/article.a…
3: mbifoundation.com/good-governanc…

9/ According to the accused Saudi labor rights abuser's foundation, HRW mideast director @sarahleah1 (now with @QuincyInst) was also involved in the agreement—despite her being named as a culprit in the earlier tainted Saudi funds scandal. wsj.com/articles/SB124… @ProfDBernstein

10/ Bob Bernstein created Human Rights Watch "to pry open closed societies, advocate basic freedoms and support dissenters." @KenRoth's repeated unethical decisions to secure Saudi funds from 2009 through 2013 now threaten this great organization's credibility. He must resign.