Financier George Soros said on Tuesday he would give US$100 million to Human Rights Watch to help the US-based group strengthen globally after the US’ moral authority suffered under former US president George W. Bush’s administration.
The billionaire, whose donation to the rights organization will be made over the next 10 years, said the US’ blemished rights record had lessened its influence as a global rights advocate and urged other countries to fill the void.
“The United States, being the main promoter of human rights, has lost the moral high ground that it used to occupy,” Soros, 80, said in an interview. “Other countries believe in it too so they need to be mobilized and they need to be activated because they can now have a bigger impact.”
The US has been condemned internationally for its handling of terrorism suspects, particularly under Bush. Critics have accused US President Barack Obama of softening a US commitment to promote rights and not moving fast enough to reverse Bush-era policies.
The US joined the UN Human Rights Council last year after boycotting it under the Bush administration.
Soros, a staunch Democratic Party supporter who was among the earliest big-name supporters of Obama’s presidential bid, said he believed the US rights record had made it difficult for Human Rights Watch, noting his own Open Society Foundations had suffered problems.
“My foundation is promoting democracy and open society throughout the world ... and we ran into a lot of difficulties during the Bush administration because of the changing attitudes towards the United States,” he said.
Soros said his gift to Human Rights Watch was a “challenge grant.”
The group must also try to raise another US$100 million over the next decade, mainly from outside the US, but the Soros grant is not conditional on that, he said.
He said he became involved with Human Rights Watch in the early 1980s when he began his philanthropic activities by attending the group’s weekly meetings. His US$100 million grant is the largest Soros has made to a non-governmental organization.
“It’s an organization that I know very well and I can vouch for its efficiency and having kept its spirit,” Soros said.
Soros, who is ranked 35th on Forbes list of the world’s richest people with an estimated fortune of US$14 billion, gives away more than US$600 million a year, but has changed his plans to give away all of his wealth before his death.
“I changed my mind because the foundation has now a mission that I think it can perform without me ... namely providing financial support to civil society to hold governments accountable,” Soros said.
“I will effectively give away half my income as I earn it and the other half I will give away on my death,” he said.
However, he does not plan to sign up to investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates Giving Pledge philanthropic campaign, which urges US billionaires to give away at least half their wealth.
“It’s a very praiseworthy endeavor, but I think that it’s not really how much you give away, but how you do it,” Soros said. “I can tell from personal experience that some of the smallest amounts I have given were more effective than some larger grants that I have made.”
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