Matthew Smith

Founder & CEO @FortifyRights. We investigate human rights violations, engage people w/ power, & strengthen HRDs. Fellow at Harvard's @CarrCenter '19-20.

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

Here is my essay in @nytimes on why I’m suing the Trump admin. The admin’s sanctions against the ICC are an attack on global justice and the rule of law. This isn’t just policy—it’s a dangerous overreach that violates our First Amendment rights. @ACLU
https://t.co/9MOLoqdSRF

[Timothy McLaughlin @TMclaughlin3]

Glad to see this important update.

[Fortify Rights @FortifyRights]

.@BenedictRogers @FortifyRights warns that recent moves to empower Hong Kong’s Chief Executive reflect a growing concentration of power and a further departure from the freedoms once promised to the city.

https://t.co/bT3S3b7ENz

[Fortify Rights @FortifyRights]

NEW: On March 5, the #Myanmar military junta conducted an airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in the Bago Region, opened fire from the ground, and arbitrarily detained residents. 28 civilians were killed, including women and children.

“This massacre … reflects the Myanmar military junta’s ongoing strategy of terrorizing civilians in areas seen as supporting the resistance,” said @john_hq3, Director at @FortifyRights. “The killing of civilians … may amount to war crimes.”

U.N. member states should increase support for accountability for mass atrocity crimes in Myanmar and refuse to legitimize military rule.

Read the full news release: https://t.co/GKENKFqHxL

[Kerry Kennedy @KerryKennedyRFK]

“We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us through that darkness to a safe and sane future." - President John F. Kennedy.
https://t.co/jPH64auS9Q

[Fortify Rights @FortifyRights]

🇹🇭 NEW: #Thailand should take immediate steps to end the arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and forced return of refugees, @FortifyRights said ahead of Thailand’s Universal Periodic Review at the U.N. Human Rights Council this November.

In April, Fortify Rights submitted a stakeholder submission to the U.N. Human Rights Council on Thailand’s human rights record.

“Thailand’s role as a member of the Human Rights Council carries a heightened obligation to take concrete actions to uphold human rights, including for its sizable refugee population,” said Thanida Piyachot, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights.

Read the full news release: https://t.co/Vgw4t8l3kP

Read the report: https://t.co/nosLzMn67d

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

The #Myanmar military junta committed war crimes in Bago on March 5 when it conducted an airstrike on a monastery sheltering civilians, opened fire on civilians from the ground, and detained survivors, said @FortifyRights. Read the new investigation here: https://t.co/A2UxmnH4vC

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

For years, #refugees in #Malaysia have lived in fear of arrest, detention, forced returns. Many fled war, #genocide, & atrocities only to face new abuses.
On June 1, the govt will implement “phase one” of its new refugee framework. @FortifyRights has recs
https://t.co/02zaT6W8JB

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

@KirtMausert Obtuse? Lol. Perhaps you missed the statement from Rohingya-led groups that accompanied the Leadership Council statement. Or the fact that Rohingya HRDs at Fortify Rights were involved start to finish.

It’s ok to flail every now and again. We can take it.

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

@KirtMausert “Standing” in international accountability mechanisms refers to whether a person or entity has the legal right or recognized capacity to bring a case or complaint before a tribunal or body. That’s not what this is. It’s a public statement from leaders from around the world.

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

@KirtMausert Not to mention, all of the work @FortifyRights that focuses on Rohingya issues is led by Rohingya themselves. Workers. Speaking of workers, you're a communist, and Marx never worked in a factory or was a "worker" himself. Should he not have focused on workers?

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

@KirtMausert Solidarity comes in many forms, is multifaceted, and important. The idea that only groups w/ a Rohingya person should comment on crimes against Rohingya is like saying only Jews should have talked about the Holocaust, or only Palestinians should talk about atrocities in Gaza.

[Kerry Kennedy @KerryKennedyRFK]

Thank you for having me @MilkenInstitute!

[Kerry Kennedy @KerryKennedyRFK]

I join members of the @FortifyRights Leadership Council along with Rohingya-led groups in calling on the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA).

Under Ata Ullah's command, ARSA has killed, abducted, and tortured Rohingya civilians in Myanmar and Bangladesh. These atrocity crimes demand accountability. The ICC must act. Read our full statement below.
https://t.co/gv0TkNwQrk

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

Signatories include Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, who led the prosecution of Milošević; Beth Van Schaack, former U.S. Amb for Global Criminal Justice; Yale Law Prof Jim Silk; Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert and Ethel Kennedy Human Rights; Lord Alton of Liverpool; & other heavyweights.

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

The @FortifyRights Leadership Council — former prosecutors, intl leaders, artists, business leaders — are calling on the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of ARSA, for serious intl crimes against Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh: https://t.co/hHJG6H5WYY

[Matthew Smith @matthewfsmith]

Rohingya-led organizations, likewise, today issued a separate statement urging the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah and ensure accountability for ARSA abuses against Rohingya in Myanmar and Bangladesh. The groups withheld their names to protect against reprisals.

[Lord (David) Alton @DavidAltonHL]

Crimes against the Rohingya: Today, the Leadership Council at @FortifyRights and together with Rohingya-led groups, has called on the ICC to seek an arrest warrant for Ata Ullah, leader of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, for alleged war crimes and abuses against Rohingya civilians in Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Rohingya communities have suffered abuses by both state and non-state actors for far too long. They deserve justice and accountability. @FCDOGovUK @BrendanOHaraMP @EwelinaUO @HelenaKennedyKC

Read our statement: https://t.co/mR0RZPjRMX

[Phil Robertson @Reaproy]

Fantastic article with #Maine's Democratic party Senate candidate Graham Platner @grahamformaine. Article is free to read below. Says so many things that make good, common sense. https://t.co/HvqDQgiGO6

[Ben Dunant @BenedictDunant]

Very interesting piece that spans a range of views on Myanmar's post-coup war as it grinds into its sixth year.

Some say there's an urgent need for peace talks and reconciliation to end the war, while others argue that they owe it to the dead to continue the fight.

[Kenneth Roth @KenRoth]

Two years after the Arakan Army, an ethnic armed group, killed and wounded hundreds of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s Rakhine State and burned down their village, the survivors are still denied justice and cannot return to their homes. https://t.co/Ka1FMtcSkt