Preoccupied Western powers fall silent on human rights - rights group

Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth speaks during an interview with Reuters in Berlin, Germany, January 16, 2019. Picture taken January 16, 2019. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke

BERLIN (Reuters) - Global powers have become so diverted by populism and domestic discontent that they lack the capacity or inclination to defend human rights or even investigate suspected war crimes, global pressure group Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.

The United States and the largest countries of the European Union, which since the days of the Cold War have used human rights rhetoric as a core foreign policy tool, were no longer so reliable as partners, the group's head, Kenneth Roth, said.