The Rohingya are a religious and ethnic minority in Myanmar that faces horrid abuse and discrimination by Burmese authorities. As the politics of Myanmar lurches toward representative democracy, this group is still excluded from sharing basic rights of citizenship. Even the lauded Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is shamefully silent about their situation. On the eve of President Obama’s second visit to Myanmar, Mark speaks with Matthew Smith of the human rights group Fortify Rights about the plight of the Rohingya and what the international community can do to improve human rights in Myanmar as it opens up to the world.
Episode 11: Kenneth Roth
The longtime executive director of Human Rights Watch is on the line this week. Kenneth Roth discusses some of the world’s most ignored human rights crises; how his father’s experience fleeing Nazi Germany propelled him to a career in human rights; and how the human rights movement is evolving as global centers of power shift.
Episode 4: Arsalan Iftikhar, “The Muslim Guy”
You probably know him as “The Muslim Guy.” Arsalan Iftikhar is a civil rights lawyer and popular media commentator who fights daily against widespread bigotry facing Muslim Americans. In our conversation we discuss the how the child of immigrants from Pakistan got into this line of work, how the Bush administration officially sanctioned discrimination against Muslim Americans, and why Barack Obama refuses to set foot in an American Mosque.
