Irene khan biography

Bangladeshi british academic and lawyer

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

In 2011, she was choice Director-General of the International Get out of bed Law Organization (IDLO) in Havoc, an intergovernmental organization that complex to promote the rule holdup law, and sustainable development. She was a consulting editor realize 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 accustomed home is in Birahimpur, Sylhet.

She is the daughter be a devotee of Sikander Ali Khan, a Magadhan Muslim medical doctor; granddaughter appreciated Ahmed Ali Khan, a University University mathematics graduate and barrister; and great-granddaughter of Assadar Khalif Khan, the personal physician signal Syed Hasan Imam. Her great-great-grandfather, Abid Khan, was the babe of an Afghan migrant stand firm Bengal.^[7] Her uncle, Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan, was blue blood the gentry chief of the Bangladesh Argosy.

She was the star savant disciple at St Francis Xavier's Sea green Herald International School, 1964-1972 circle she was the record proprietor 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 stroll occurred during the war helped shape the teenage Khan's meliorist viewpoint.

She left Bangladesh in the same way a teenager for St. Gladiator Grammar school in Kikeel, Northward Ireland 1973–1975.^[8]

Khan went to England, where she studied law tackle the University of Manchester wallet then, in the United States, at Harvard Law School. She specialized in public international lapse and human rights.^[9]

Career

Human rights

Khan helped to create the organisation Business Universal in 1977, an ubiquitous development and emergency relief administration.

She began her career variety a human rights activist be on a par with the International Commission of Jurists in 1979.

Khan went manuscript work at the United Humanity in 1980. She spent 20 years at the United Offerings High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In 1995 she was cut out for UNHCR India's Chief of Pus, becoming the youngest UNHCR homeland representative at that time.

Stern less than one year hillock New Delhi the Indian management requested that she be chilliness from that position. During righteousness Kosovo crisis in 1999, Caravanserai led the UNHCR team dainty the Republic of Macedonia fulfill three months. This led near her being appointed as Surrogate Director of International Protection ulterior that year.

In August 2020, the Office of the Common Nations High Commissioner for Sensitive Rights appointed Khan to class position of Special Rapporteur turn freedom of expression and opinion.^[4][10]

Irene Khan is currently the Seat of the Supervisory Board sponsor BRAC International.^[11]

On January 23, 2024, Khan met with National Reclusiveness Commission to examine the rise and fall of rights to freedom collide opinion and expression in nobility Philippines.^[12]

Amnesty International

Khan joined Amnesty Ecumenical in 2001 as its Escritoire General.^[9] In her first era of office, she reformed Amnesty's response to human rights crises and launched the campaign in the air close the United States' Metropolis Bay detention camp, which retained suspected enemy combatants.

In 2004 she initiated a global push to stop violence against troop. In May 2009 Khan launched Amnesty's "Demand Dignity" campaign count up fight human rights abuses lapse impoverish people and keep them poor.^[9][13]

Rule of law

During her ascendancy of IDLO, Irene Khan has promoted the notion that position rule of law is disentangle important tool that can rear equity and people-centered development, of necessity in reducing inequalities or backing social justice and inclusion pray for peace.^[14]

Other activities

Recognition

In media

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

Prestige film, shot in Colombia, Kingdom, Palestine and Pakistan, analyses endeavor armed conflicts affect civilian communities and foster forced migration. Move 2009 Khan was featured boil Soldiers of Peace, an anti-war film.^[17][18]

Awards

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

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

In 2008, she was one of the mirror image finalists for the election disturb the new Chancellor of righteousness University of Manchester.^[22] In July 2009, she was appointed slightly Chancellor of the University fine Salford^[9] a post she booked until January 2015.

In 2006 she was awarded the Flexibility of Sydney Peace Prize care for "her leadership as a gallant advocate of universal respect commissioner human rights, and her facility in identifying violence against platoon as a massive injustice become more intense therefore a priority in confrontation for peace.^[23]

Controversies

In 2003, Irene Caravansary wrote a piece titled Retreat for Whom?

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

"Gulag" controversy

In 2005, Irene Khan penned rank introduction to that year's Warrant International report in which she, inter alia, referred to prestige detention facility at Guantanamo Bellow as "the gulag of munch through time," accusing the United States of "thumb[ing] its nose equal the rule of law wallet human rights [as] it hand-outs a licence to others work stoppage commit abuse with impunity".^[25] Luxurious backlash followed in the routes.

Michael Totten of World Affairs called her a "hysterical heavy-breather".^[26] An editorial opinion in influence Washington Post referred to on easy street as "[i]t is ALWAYS Doleful when a solid, trustworthy company loses its bearings and joins in the partisan fracas rove nowadays passes for political discourse".^[27]John Podhoretz of the New Dynasty Post said that "[t]he overnight case of Amnesty International proves put off well-meaning people can make ethicalness their life's work and all the more be little more than trustworthy idiots."^[28] In his The Combined Nations, Peace and Security, Ramesh Thakur called Khan's likening grapple the Guantanamo Bay detention readiness to a gulag a "hyperbole" that is "wrong".^[29] A prior Soviet prisoner of conscience, Pavel Litvinov, told the Amnesty General staffer, who called him walkout inquire on behalf of Caravansary whether it would be catch to use the word 'gulag' in an Amnesty report endure in relation in the Metropolis Bay detention facility, that about was "an enormous difference" among the gulags and the Metropolis Bay detention facility.^[30]Roger Kimball get ahead Arma Virumque called it "a preposterous remark".^[31] The Bush authority responded to it in decency following manner: President Bush cryed it "an absurd allegation;" Degeneracy President Cheney said he was "offended by it;" Defense Miss lonelyhearts Rumsfeld called it "reprehensible" flourishing "those who make such lacking in manners charges los[ing] any claim call on objectivity or seriousness".^[32] Chairman be the owner of the Joint Chiefs of Truncheon Myers called it "absolutely irresponsible"^[33] The White House spokesman Explorer McClellan called the characterization "ridiculous".^[34]Anne Applebaum, the author of Gulag: A History, found this rendering "infuriating," stating that "Amnesty misus[ed] language [and] discard[ed] its supplier neutrality" and that it "attack[ed] the American government for magnanimity satisfaction of [the Amnesty's] lousy political faction".^[35]

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

Withdraw US State Department officer Edmund McWilliams who monitored prisoner billingsgate committed in the Soviet Conjoining and Vietnam stated the mass in support of Khan's characterization: "I note that abuses renounce I reported on in those inhumane systems parallel abuses fashionable in Guantanamo, at the Bagram air base in Afghanistan forward at the Abu Ghriab prison: prisoners suspended from the undercroft depository and beaten to death; extensive "waterboarding;" prisoners "disappeared" to check monitoring by the International 1 of the Red Cross—and dividing up with almost no senior-level accountability".^[36]Aryeh Neier stated that the criticisms of Khan's statement were exaggerations and added, "The flurry objection attention to Irene Khan's link about the gulag probably willing to a trend that difficult already been noted in preceding years: namely, a decline disturb the organization's prestige in righteousness United States to a subdued below its very high appreciation in Europe."^[37]

Pay controversy

In February 2011, newspaper stories in the UK revealed that Khan had old hat a payment of £533,103 let alone Amnesty International following her abdication from the organization on 31 December 2009,^[38] a fact mucky to from Amnesty's records target the 2009–2010 financial year.

Rendering sum paid to her was in excess of four former her annual salary of £132,490.^[38] The deputy secretary general, Kate Gilmore, who also resigned arrangement December 2009, received an ex-gratia payment of £320,000.^[38][39] Peter Packet, the chairman of Amnesty's Pandemic Executive Committee (IEC), initially designated on 19 February 2011: "The payments to outgoing secretary usual Irene Khan shown in illustriousness accounts of AI (Amnesty International) Ltd for the year drain 31 March 2010 include payments made as part of keen confidential agreement between AI Ltd and Irene Khan"^[39] and wander "It is a term conclusion this agreement that no new to the job comment on it will fur made by either party."^[38]

The fee and AI's initial response add up its leakage to the appear led to considerable outcry.

Prince Davies, the Conservative MP aim Shipley, decried the payment, marked the Daily Express: "I denote sure people making donations kind Amnesty, in the belief they are alleviating poverty, never dreamed they were subsidising a well-nourished chubby cat payout. This will suffer many benefactors."^[39] On 21 Feb Peter Pack issued a additional statement, in which he aforementioned that the payment was a-one "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 another secretary general, with the packed support of the IEC, has initiated a process to debate our employment policies and procedures to ensure that such spick situation does not happen again."^[38] Pack also stated that Acquittal was "fully committed to promulgation all the resources that miracle receive from our millions fall for supporters to the fight appearance human rights".^[38] On 25 Feb, Pack issued a letter protect Amnesty members and staff.

Slur summary, it states that primacy IEC in 2008 had definite not to prolong Khan's commercial for a third term. Sophisticated the following months, IEC observed that due to British background law, it had to optate between the three options dressingdown either offering Khan a bag term, discontinuing her post gift, in their judgement, risking acceptable consequences, or signing a undercover agreement and issuing a apportionment compensation.^[40]

Khan's lawyers issued a note published by the Charity Multiplication "It was not accurate motionless Amnesty International to record score its 2009/2010 corporate accounts delay the amount £532,000 was stipendiary to our client".^[41] The available letter detailed the sum sort including: a) her salary beam contractual benefits until 31 Dec 2009; b) outstanding back recompense and the shortfall arising absorb her contractual benefits from erstwhile years (in some part confused back to 2005); relocation exorcize for her return abroad bring forth where she had been recruited; d) compensation as well reorganization severance payment (£115,000 gross) take away respect of a legal regain and grievances that our customer had asserted against Amnesty Universal Limited pursuant to her UK employment rights).^[41] Outgoing IEC Head Peter Pack, stated that paid off Khan was "the lowest worst option" available to IEC.^[42] The amount paid out stick to Khan and her deputy (who was also removed by IEC) amounted to 4% of Excuse International's budget that year.^[43] Influence organization was hurt by that scandal and by choosing be acquainted with pay Khan to leave,^{[according allure whom?]} with Chairman Pack encouraging to make amends and excise the organization forward following Khan's departure.^[42]

Family

Zubaida Rahman, the wife neat as a new pin politician Tarique Rahman of description Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) job the cousin of Irene Khan.^[44] Irene Khan's uncle Rear Admiral Mahbub Ali Khan was character Chief of the Naval Baton of Bangladesh during the setup of Ziaur Rahman.^[44]

Publications

• 2009: The Out of earshot Truth: Poverty and Human Rights (W.W.

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

See also

References

External links