Aaron Anthony Rhodes (born 1949) is an international

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activist and writer. He is a senior fellow at Common Sense Society and President of the Forum for Religious Freedom-Europe, an independent nongovernmental organization. Rhodes served as Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) between 1993 and 2007, during which period the IHF was engaged inter alia in human rights challenges in the Balkans, in Chechnya, and in Central Asia, and the organization expanded significantly. He has been active in civil society campaigns vis a vis the Human Dimension of the

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

(OSCE), the Council of Europe, the European Union and the United Nations. He is based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Biography

Rhodes was born in rural Upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, the son of Lillyan Estelle (née Jacobs) and Daniel Rhodes. Rhodes was educated at

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

and in the Committee on Social Thought at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1980. After serving in political and governmental positions in Chicago and Illinois, he became Assistant to the President of

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, John Silber. He moved to Vienna in 1991 to work on projects for educational reform in Eastern Europe initiated by the Institute for Human Sciences ( Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen). He has also been involved with human rights issues in a number of Middle Eastern countries. In 2008, after the closure of IHF due to an economic crime, he helped found and became Policy Adviser to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, a project of the Netherlands-based NGO Bridging the Gulf-Foundation for Human Security in the Middle East. He has also undertaken human rights investigations in Cuba, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Rhodes was a co-founder of the Freedom Rights Project, a human rights research initiative and think-tank, which documents and analyzes trends including the inflation, dilution and politicization of human rights in international law. In 2019, he assumed the position of Human Rights Editor of Dissident Magazine, a project of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. In 2008, Rhodes was made an honorary citizen of Austria for his "contributions to the Republic." He was awarded a Public Service Citation by the University of Chicago in 2009. In 2020, Rhodes was honored by the Moscow Helsinki Group "For Historical Contributions to the Protection of Human Rights and the Human Rights Movement." In 2018, Rhodes published a book, "The Debasement of Human Rights: How Politics Sabotage the Ideal of Freedom" (Encounter Books, New York). His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Die Zeit, The American Interest, National Review Online, and elsewhere.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Aaron 1949 births Living people American essayists American human rights activists Austrian human rights activists Austrian non-fiction writers Place of birth missing (living people) Boston University faculty American emigrants to Austria Naturalised citizens of Austria Writers from New York (state) Writers from Vienna Reed College alumni University of Chicago alumni Activists from New York (state)