Agnès Callamard, United Nations rights investigator, new director of Amnesty

United Nations human rights investigator Agnes Callamard has been appointed Amnesty International’s new chief.

Callamard will be secretary general of the international rights group with immediate effect for a four-year term, Amnesty said in a statement on Sunday evening.

The French human rights expert has worked as the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions since 2016.

She has carried out investigations in more than 30 countries, including a high-profile UN investigation into the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Sarah Beamish, Chair of Amnesty International’s International Board of Directors, praised Callamard’s “intellectual acuity, deep global human rights experience and courageous voice,” in a statement announcing her appointment.

Callamard said she was honored to take the job.

“Where governments and businesses seek to silence those who speak out against their abuses, to cover up the truth and to undermine or reject human rights standards, Amnesty International’s rigorous investigations and uncompromising campaigns are more vital than ever. Said Callamard.

Callamard previously worked with Amnesty from 1995 to 2001. She takes the leadership position of Amnesty from Acting Secretary General Julie Verhaar.

Amnesty has offices in more than 70 countries and describes itself as the largest non-governmental human rights organization in the world.