WASHINGTON: The prestigious Kennedy School at Harvard University said on Thursday it had reversed a decision to not award a fellowship to the former head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) after coming under fire earlier this month over the move.

The school’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy last year approached Kenneth Roth, who served as HRW’s executive director from 1993 to 2022, and agreed on the terms of a fellowship, according to both Roth and the Carr Center. The fellowship was subject to approval by Douglas Elmendorf, Kennedy School’s dean.

Kathryn Sikkink, a human rights academic at the Kennedy School, told The Nation magazine earlier this month that Elmendorf told her he rejected the appointment because of what he called HRW’s “anti-Israel bias”. In an email to the community on Thursday, shared by a Harvard Kennedy School spokesperson, Elmendorf said he believed he had made an error.

“In the case of Mr Roth, I now believe that I made an error in my decision not to appoint him as a Fellow at our Carr Center for Human Rights... We will extend an offer to Mr Roth to serve as a Fellow. I hope that our community will be able to benefit from his deep experience in a wide range of human rights issues,” Elmendorf said.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2023