Irene Khan

Irene Khan
Khan in 2024
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Assumed office
July 2020
Preceded byDavid Kaye
Director-General of the International Development Law Organization
In office
January 2012 – December 2019
Preceded byWilliam T. Loris
Succeeded byJan Beagle
Chancellor of the University of Salford
In office
2009–2015
Preceded byProfessor Sir Martin Harris
Succeeded byJackie Kay
Secretary-General of Amnesty International
In office
2001–2009
Preceded byPierre Sané
Succeeded bySalil Shetty
Personal details
Born
Irene Zubaida Khan

(1956-12-24) 24 December 1956 (age 67)
Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
NationalityBangladeshi, British
EducationLaw
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Harvard Law School

Irene Zubaida Khan (born 24 December 1956) is a Bangladeshi lawyer appointed as of August 2020 to be the United Nations Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion.[1] She previously served as the seventh Secretary General of Amnesty International (from 2001 to 2009). In 2011, she was elected Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome, an intergovernmental organization that works to promote the rule of law, and sustainable development. She was a consulting editor of The Daily Star in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2011.[2]

  1. ^ "Human Rights Council adopts four resolutions, appoints four special procedure mandate holders, and concludes its forty-fourth session". United Nations Human Rights Council.
  2. ^ "Ms. Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression". United Nations The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Retrieved 13 April 2021.