The one human rights course offered at Yale Law School was repeatedly canceled, and upon graduation he found that jobs in the field were few.

Since 1993 (when Aryeh Neier left to become head of George Soros's Open Society Institute), Roth became the executive director[6] of HRW.

Kennedy school professor Kathryn Sikkink said she was told that Elmendorf thought Human Rights Watch has an "anti-Israel bias" and that Roth’s tweets on Israel were concerning, points she disputed with the dean.

[24][25][26] Following Roth's complaint, the ACLU, Pen America, and other human rights activists condemned the Kennedy School's decision.

[31] Elmendorf said that his initial decision had been in "error" and was not intended "to limit debate at the Kennedy School about human rights in any country".

"Full transparency is key to ensuring that such influence is not exerted in other cases", Roth said, adding: "Secondly, I remain worried about academic freedom.

"[33] In the fall of 2023, Roth joined the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs as a lecturer and the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor.

[41] Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, told reporters he would not read the report, accusing Human Rights Watch of distorting the truth and claiming China's human rights situation is “the best it's been in history.”[42] In August 2020, the Chinese government announced that it had imposed unspecified “sanctions” on Roth.