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Sarah Leah Whitson

Sarah Leah Whitson

Executive Director, Middle East and North Africa Division Follow @sarahleah1

Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division, oversees the work of the division in 19 countries, with staff located in 10 countries. She has led dozens of advocacy and investigative missions throughout the region, focusing on issues of armed conflict, accountability, legal reform, migrant workers, and political rights. She has published widely on human rights issues in the Middle East in international and regional media, including The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, and CNN. She appears regularly on Al-Jazeera, BBC, NPR, and CNN. Before joining Human Rights Watch, Whitson worked in New York for Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and Harvard Law School. Whitson is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She speaks Armenian and Arabic.

Articles Authored

  • December 5, 2017 Commentary

    Why Iraq Should Limit Islamic State Trials

    Published in Reuters
  • November 30, 2017 Commentary

    When Elites Get a Taste of Their Own Medicine

    Published in The New York Times
  • August 3, 2017 Commentary

    For Qatar the Gulf Crisis is a Human Rights Opportunity

    Published in Middle East Eye
  • June 5, 2017 Commentary

    Chipping Away at 50 Years of Occupation

    Published in Public Diplomacy Magazine
  • May 27, 2017 Commentary

    Winning Battles but Losing the War for a United Iraq

    Published in The Star
  • April 24, 2017 Dispatches

    Egyptian Soldiers Appear to Execute Civilians – Yet Again

  • February 28, 2017 Dispatches

    Iranian Officials’ Hypocrisy Over Oscar Win

  • March 30, 2016 Commentary

    The US is Quietly Helping Saudi Arabia Wage a Devastating Aerial Campaign in Yemen

    Published in LA Times
  • December 21, 2015 Commentary

    How to Make Syria Peace Talks Work

    Published in Al-Jazeera
  • November 6, 2015 Commentary

    Testimony of Sarah Leah Whitson at the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission 2015

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