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Agnès Callamard

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Agnès Callamard
Callamard in 2019
Born1965 (age 58–59)
France
EducationInstitut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble
Howard University
New School for Social Research
Occupation(s)Human rights activist and scholar
Years active1995–present
EmployerOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Agnès Callamard is a French human rights expert who is the Secretary General of Amnesty International.[1] She was previously the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.[2] She is also the Director of Columbia University's project on Freedom of Expression-globally.[3]

Early life and education

In 1985, Callamard received her undergraduate degree from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Grenoble. In 1988, she graduated from Howard University. In 1995, she received a PhD in Political Science from the New School for Social Research in New York City.[citation needed]

Career

Callamard in 2011

Callamard is considered an expert[by whom?] on a number of international and UN human rights initiatives and has conducted human rights investigations in a number of countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.[4] She has published in the field of human rights, women's rights, refugee movements and accountability. Callamard has worked extensively in the field of international refugee movements with the Center for Refugee Studies in Toronto.[citation needed]

In May 2017, Callamard attended a conference in the Philippines, which was followed by her Wikipedia page being vandalized.[4][5] Callamard stated that the visit was not in an official capacity.[6]

Amnesty International

From 1998 to 2001, Callamard served as Chef de Cabinet for the Secretary General of Amnesty International, and as the organisation's Research Policy Coordinator, she led Amnesty's work on women's human rights.[citation needed]

In January 2013, Callamard tweeted that Shimon Peres had admitted in a New York Times interview that Yasser Arafat was murdered.[7] In April 2021, Amnesty International released a statement that the tweet was not reflective of the position of Amnesty International or Callamard.[8][9] Jewish News wrote "[t]he tweet was still available on Callamard’s account".[8]

HAP International

In 2001, Callamard worked and led HAP International (the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership, created in 2003) where she oversaw field trials in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Sierra Leone and created an international self-regulatory body for humanitarian agencies committed to strengthening accountability to disaster-affected populations.[citation needed] She was in this position until 2004.[citation needed]

Article 19

From 2004 to 2013, Callamard served as Executive Director of Article 19, a human rights organization.[citation needed]

Columbia University

As of November 2013, Callamard was Director of Columbia University's Global Freedom of Expression initiative.[citation needed]

OSCE Nomination

In 2016 she was nominated by France to become the fourth OSCE Special Representative on Freedom of the Media. Despite being a popular choice to replace Dunja Mijatović her nomination was strongly opposed by Russia and other eastern european countries.

United Nations

Callamard was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council resolution A/HRC/RES/35/15 of 22 June 2017 for a 3 years mandate and finishing on 31 March 2021.[10] In 2019 she led the human rights inquiry into the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Her findings were presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2019.[11] After the report was published, she said that a senior Saudi official twice threatened to have her killed if she was not reined in by the UN.[12]

She concluded that the drone strike on Iranian General Qasem Soleimani was unlawful as part of advance version of her report on "Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions" for the Forty-fourth session of the Human Rights Council.[13]

Amnesty International

She returns to Amnesty after twenty years as Secretary General at Amnesty International. She leads the organization's human rights work and is its chief spokesperson. She is responsible for providing overall leadership of the International Secretariat, including setting the strategic direction for the organisation and managing relations with Amnesty International’s national entities.

Works and publications

  • Callamard, Agnès (18 March 2009). "Protect the believers, not the belief". The Guardian.
  • Callamard, Agnès; Amnesty International Dutch Section; Codesria (2000). Monitoring and Investigating Torture, Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, and Prison Conditions (PDF). Dakar: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. ISBN 978-2-869-78088-0. OCLC 47863459.
  • Callamard, Agnès (12 August 2015). "Comity for Internet? Recent Court Decisions on the Right to be De-indexed". The National Law Review.
  • Callamard, Agnès (23 March 2017). "Are courts re-inventing Internet regulation?". International Review of Law, Computers & Technology. 31 (3): 323–339. doi:10.1080/13600869.2017.1304603. S2CID 152003362.Closed access icon

References

  1. ^ "Dr. Agnès Callamard appointed as Secretary General of Amnesty International". Amnesty International USA. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  2. ^ "Dr. Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
  3. ^ "People: Agnès S. Callamard". Global Freedom of Expression Project, Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2018-12-23. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  4. ^ a b Vibar, Ivy Jean (5 May 2017). "UN rapporteur's Wikipedia page defaced upon visit to PH". ABS-CBN News.
  5. ^ Cabato, Regine (5 May 2017). "Malacañang slams visit of UN rapporteur to PH". CNN Philippines.
  6. ^ Callamard, Agnes (5 May 2017). "Special Rapporteur rejects misinformation about her current academic visit to Philippines". Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
  7. ^ Jerusalem, Anshel Pfeffer. "Israel leaks Amnesty report on 'apartheid' against Palestinians". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  8. ^ a b Daventry, Michael (15 April 2021). "Amnesty International chief retracts 'Israel murdered Arafat' claim". Jewish News. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  9. ^ Keyser, Zachary (16 April 2021). "Amnesty denounces S-G's tweet that alluded Israel assassinated Arafat". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 18 April 2021.
  10. ^ Vukovic, Brenda (18 August 2016). "UN experts urge the Philippines to stop unlawful killings of people suspected of drug-related offences" (Press release). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
  11. ^ "The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia". pbs.org. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  12. ^ Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (2021-03-23). "Top Saudi official issued death threat against UN's Khashoggi investigator". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2021-03-23.
  13. ^ "Qasem Soleimani: US strike on Iran general was unlawful, UN expert says". BBC. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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