Podcast
Danielle Haas on How Activism Took Over Human Rights | Quillette Cetera Episode 73
Former Human Rights Watch senior editor Danielle Haas on how NGO reports get made, what happens to staff who dissent, and why she wants outside oversight.
Danielle Haas spent almost 14 years as a senior editor at Human Rights Watch, overseeing the organisation’s thematic and geographic research. In November 2023, she left—and in an exit email to colleagues, she set out her concerns about the rigour of the organisation’s work on Israel.
Since then, dozens of current and former staff from across the sector have come forward with similar accounts. Haas cofounded EiGHT, an insider-led initiative pushing for accountability in the human rights and humanitarian world, which this year published a report drawing on testimony from more than 70 people across nine major organisations.
Danielle joins Zoe Sankey to discuss how NGO reports actually get made, who reviews them before they go out, what happens to staff who don’t toe the ideological line, and why she believes the sector needs independent outside scrutiny.
For more from Danielle, read her recent Quillette essay, “J.K. Rowling vs. Amnesty.”
Quillette invites thoughtful responses to its essays.
Selected responses are published once per week as part of a curated Letters to the Editor feature. If selected, letters appear under the contributor’s real name and may be edited for clarity and length.
To submit a letter for consideration, please email [email protected].
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