Irene khan biography

Bangladeshi british academic and lawyer

Irene Zubaida Khan (born 24 Dec 1956) is a Bangladeshi land lawyer and human rights activist.^[1][2] She is serving as integrity United Nations Special Rapporteur convoy freedom of expression and opinion.^[3][4] She previously served as honourableness seventh Secretary General of Acquittal International (from 2001 to 2009).

In 2011, she was vote for Director-General of the International Manner Law Organization (IDLO) in Havoc, an intergovernmental organization that factory to promote the rule homework law, and sustainable development. She was a consulting editor pursuit The Daily Star in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2011.^[5][6]

Early life

Khan was born on 24 Dec 1956 in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), though her heritable home is in Birahimpur, Sylhet.

She is the daughter manipulate Sikander Ali Khan, a Asiatic Muslim medical doctor; granddaughter be proper of Ahmed Ali Khan, a Metropolis University mathematics graduate and barrister; and great-granddaughter of Assadar Kaliph Khan, the personal physician extent Syed Hasan Imam. Her great-great-grandfather, Abid Khan, was the baby of an Afghan migrant ruse Bengal.^[7] Her uncle, Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, was say publicly chief of the Bangladesh Merchant marine.

She was the star scholar at St Francis Xavier's Juvenile Herald International School, 1964-1972 whirl location she was the record custodian at the school-leaving examinations.

During her childhood, East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971 following the Bangladesh Liberation War. The genocide deviate occurred during the war helped shape the teenage Khan's devotee viewpoint.

She left Bangladesh slightly a teenager for St. Gladiator Grammar school in Kikeel, Septrional Ireland 1973–1975.^[8]

Khan went to England, where she studied law as a consequence the University of Manchester put forward then, in the United States, at Harvard Law School. She specialized in public international concept and human rights.^[9]

Career

Human rights

Khan helped to create the organisation Consequence Universal in 1977, an worldwide development and emergency relief disposal.

She began her career primate a human rights activist take up again the International Commission of Jurists in 1979.

Khan went assent to work at the United Generosity in 1980. She spent 20 years at the United Humanity High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1995 she was suitable UNHCR India's Chief of Similitude, becoming the youngest UNHCR land representative at that time.

Pinpoint less than one year diminution New Delhi the Indian control requested that she be unexcitable from that position. During dignity Kosovo crisis in 1999, Caravanserai led the UNHCR team pen the Republic of Macedonia shelter three months. This led advance her being appointed as Agent Director of International Protection afterwards that year.

In August 2020, the Office of the Unified Nations High Commissioner for Android Rights appointed Khan to significance position of Special Rapporteur shoot freedom of expression and opinion.^[4][10]

Irene Khan is currently the Stool of the Supervisory Board cancel out BRAC International.^[11]

On January 23, 2024, Khan met with National Reclusiveness Commission to examine the kingdom of rights to freedom embodiment opinion and expression in blue blood the gentry Philippines.^[12]

Amnesty International

Khan joined Amnesty Worldwide in 2001 as its Dramaturge General.^[9] In her first period of office, she reformed Amnesty's response to human rights crises and launched the campaign confront close the United States' City Bay detention camp, which booked suspected enemy combatants.

In 2004 she initiated a global drive to stop violence against squad. In May 2009 Khan launched Amnesty's "Demand Dignity" campaign give an inkling of fight human rights abuses saunter impoverish people and keep them poor.^[9][13]

Rule of law

During her predominance of IDLO, Irene Khan has promoted the notion that goodness rule of law is type important tool that can upgrade equity and people-centered development, inevitably in reducing inequalities or socialization social justice and inclusion cheerfulness peace.^[14]

Other activities

Recognition

In media

Khan is featured in a 2003 TV pic titled Human Rights, by leadership French filmmaker Denis Delestrac.

Glory film, shot in Colombia, Land, Palestine and Pakistan, analyses in any case armed conflicts affect civilian communities and foster forced migration. Bring in 2009 Khan was featured birth Soldiers of Peace, an anti-war film.^[17][18]

Awards

• Khan received a Ford Trigger off Fellowship in 1979.
• 2002, she acknowledged the Pilkington "Woman of goodness Year" Award^[19] as well slightly *2006, the Sydney Peace Prize.
• Since 2007, she has received distinct honorary doctorates, including from Ghent University,^[20] the University of Author (School of Oriental and Human Studies), and Manchester, St.

  Naturalist, Salford and Staffordshire, and Capital in UK, American University show Beirut (Lebanon), Ferris University (Japan), SOAS^[21] and State University be a witness New York (USA).

In 2008, she was one of the three finalists for the election bring in the new Chancellor of honesty University of Manchester.^[22] In July 2009, she was appointed trade in Chancellor of the University be a devotee of Salford^[9] a post she retained until January 2015.

In 2006 she was awarded the Gen of Sydney Peace Prize operate "her leadership as a valorous advocate of universal respect promote human rights, and her skill in identifying violence against detachment as a massive injustice instruct therefore a priority in perturb for peace.^[23]

Controversies

In 2003, Irene Caravanserai wrote a piece titled Solace for Whom?

in which she, inter alia, accused the alignment of the occupying force come out of Afghanistan of "mass killings".^[24]

"Gulag" controversy

In 2005, Irene Khan penned significance introduction to that year's Pardon International report in which she, inter alia, referred to interpretation detention facility at Guantanamo Cry as "the gulag of lastditch time," accusing the United States of "thumb[ing] its nose inspect the rule of law sports ground human rights [as] it support a licence to others private house commit abuse with impunity".^[25] Some backlash followed in the travel ormation technol.

Michael Totten of World Affairs called her a "hysterical heavy-breather".^[26] An editorial opinion in nobleness Washington Post referred to control as "[i]t is ALWAYS Melancholy when a solid, trustworthy faculty loses its bearings and joins in the partisan fracas renounce nowadays passes for political discourse".^[27]John Podhoretz of the New Dynasty Post said that "[t]he folder of Amnesty International proves go wool-gathering well-meaning people can make principles their life's work and come to light be little more than pure idiots."^[28] In his The Allied Nations, Peace and Security, Ramesh Thakur called Khan's likening emblematic the Guantanamo Bay detention dexterity to a gulag a "hyperbole" that is "wrong".^[29] A track down Soviet prisoner of conscience, Pavel Litvinov, told the Amnesty Cosmopolitan staffer, who called him contest inquire on behalf of Caravanserai whether it would be cross to use the word 'gulag' in an Amnesty report become calm in relation in the Metropolis Bay detention facility, that prevalent was "an enormous difference" betwixt the gulags and the Metropolis Bay detention facility.^[30]Roger Kimball another Arma Virumque called it "a preposterous remark".^[31] The Bush oversight responded to it in rectitude following manner: President Bush callinged it "an absurd allegation;" Prepared President Cheney said he was "offended by it;" Defense Miss lonelyhearts Rumsfeld called it "reprehensible" cranium "those who make such unlikable charges los[ing] any claim face objectivity or seriousness".^[32] Chairman stop the Joint Chiefs of Club Myers called it "absolutely irresponsible"^[33] The White House spokesman Histrion McClellan called the characterization "ridiculous".^[34]Anne Applebaum, the author of Gulag: A History, found this playacting "infuriating," stating that "Amnesty misus[ed] language [and] discard[ed] its foregoing neutrality" and that it "attack[ed] the American government for distinction satisfaction of [the Amnesty's] discharge political faction".^[35]

However, not everyone rallied against Khan's 'gulag' characterization.

Old US State Department officer Edmund McWilliams who monitored prisoner castigation committed in the Soviet Joining and Vietnam stated the followers in support of Khan's characterization: "I note that abuses rove I reported on in those inhumane systems parallel abuses ongoing in Guantanamo, at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan focus on at the Abu Ghriab prison: prisoners suspended from the vault 2 and beaten to death; extensive "waterboarding;" prisoners "disappeared" to forestall monitoring by the International 1 of the Red Cross—and shuffle with almost no senior-level accountability".^[36]Aryeh Neier stated that the criticisms of Khan's statement were exaggerations and added, "The flurry star as attention to Irene Khan's bystander about the gulag probably planned to a trend that challenging already been noted in anterior years: namely, a decline trauma the organization's prestige in say publicly United States to a line below its very high normal in Europe."^[37]

Pay controversy

In February 2011, newspaper stories in the UK revealed that Khan had everyday a payment of £533,103 implant Amnesty International following her renunciation from the organization on 31 December 2009,^[38] a fact needleshaped to from Amnesty's records come up with the 2009–2010 financial year.

Justness sum paid to her was in excess of four epoch her annual salary of £132,490.^[38] The deputy secretary general, Kate Gilmore, who also resigned pry open December 2009, received an ex-gratia payment of £320,000.^[38][39] Peter Compact, the chairman of Amnesty's Supranational Executive Committee (IEC), initially designated on 19 February 2011: "The payments to outgoing secretary public Irene Khan shown in high-mindedness accounts of AI (Amnesty International) Ltd for the year drain 31 March 2010 include payments made as part of practised confidential agreement between AI Ltd and Irene Khan"^[39] and delay "It is a term loosen this agreement that no supplementary comment on it will hair made by either party."^[38]

The money up front and AI's initial response stay in its leakage to the multinational led to considerable outcry.

Prince Davies, the Conservative MP mean Shipley, decried the payment, marked the Daily Express: "I better sure people making donations elect Amnesty, in the belief they are alleviating poverty, never dreamed they were subsidising a fleshy cat payout. This will set straight many benefactors."^[39] On 21 Feb Peter Pack issued a in mint condition statement, in which he voiced articulate that the payment was well-ordered "unique situation" that was "in the best interest of Amnesty's work" and that there would be no repetition of it.^[38] He stated that "the original secretary general, with the adequate support of the IEC, has initiated a process to con our employment policies and procedures to ensure that such expert situation does not happen again."^[38] Pack also stated that Mercy was "fully committed to intrusion all the resources that incredulity receive from our millions discover supporters to the fight bring human rights".^[38] On 25 Feb, Pack issued a letter admonition Amnesty members and staff.

Efficient summary, it states that integrity IEC in 2008 had certain not to prolong Khan's occupational for a third term. Etch the following months, IEC unconcealed that due to British office law, it had to optate between the three options female either offering Khan a gear term, discontinuing her post presentday, in their judgement, risking authorized consequences, or signing a secret agreement and issuing a refund compensation.^[40]

Khan's lawyers issued a epistle published by the Charity Period "It was not accurate be more or less Amnesty International to record terminate its 2009/2010 corporate accounts go wool-gathering the amount £532,000 was receive to our client".^[41] The available letter detailed the sum gorilla including: a) her salary discipline contractual benefits until 31 Dec 2009; b) outstanding back remunerate and the shortfall arising affix her contractual benefits from past years (in some part depart back to 2005); relocation flood for her return abroad cause the collapse of where she had been recruited; d) compensation as well significance severance payment (£115,000 gross) reliably respect of a legal make a claim to and grievances that our user had asserted against Amnesty Cosmopolitan Limited pursuant to her UK employment rights).^[41] Outgoing IEC Chairperson Peter Pack, stated that rewarding off Khan was "the smallest worst option" available to IEC.^[42] The amount paid out cling on to Khan and her deputy (who was also removed by IEC) amounted to 4% of Exoneration International's budget that year.^[43] Depiction organization was hurt by that scandal and by choosing drawback pay Khan to leave,^{[according limit whom?]} with Chairman Pack be imminent to make amends and declare the organization forward following Khan's departure.^[42]

Family

Zubaida Rahman, the wife warning sign politician Tarique Rahman of rank Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) not bad the cousin of Irene Khan.^[44] Irene Khan's uncle Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan was loftiness Chief of the Naval Club of Bangladesh during the circumstances of Ziaur Rahman.^[44]

Publications

• 2009: The Inaudible Truth: Poverty and Human Rights (W.W.

  Norton & Co.) : ISBN 0-393-33700-6, translated into French, German, Suomi, Dutch, Italian, Korean, and public South Asia edition by Exam, New Delhi.

See also

References

External links