This Monday, March 29, Amnesty International appointed Frenchwoman Agnès Callamard as secretary general of the organization. She therefore succeeds Julie Verhaar, former interim secretary general, for a period of four years. Focus on the journey of this graduate of a French Grande École.
Amnesty International is a global non-governmental organization that brings together 10 million activists around the world. Their goal? Promote the defense of human rights and establish justice. This includes the release of prisoners of conscience and the abolition of the death penalty and torture throughout the world.
Since Thursday, April 1, Frenchwoman Agnès Callamard has become secretary general of the NGO based in London and established in more than 70 countries. Sara Beamish, president of the international executive office of Amnesty International, does not fail to recall the qualities of Angès Callamard by way of press release : “The combination of her intellectual acuity, extensive international human rights experience, and courageous voice makes her highly qualified to champion our movement. »
The academic and humanitarian journey of Agnès Callamard
Agnès Callamard was born in 1965. She grew up in a family with a strong social commitment which gave her the desire to leave a positive and lasting imprint on the world. “I have always been motivated by the fight against racism and discrimination and have always been attracted to the rest of the world,” specifies the new secretary general of Amnesty International.
Agnès Callamard initially attended Sciences Po Grenoble in 1988 and then joined Howard University in Washington. She also holds a doctorate in political science from the New School for Social Research and a master’s degree from Başkent University in Ankara.
She worked for Amnesty International for six years, from 1995 to 2001, as chief of staff to the secretary general. In this capacity, she has published several articles on human rights, freedom of expression, etc. She has also held a teaching position since 2013 at Columbia University, where she notably directed the project Global Freedom of Expression.
In 2018, the new secretary general of Amnesty International led an investigation into the mysterious assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and explained on Twitter that she had incurred the wrath of Saudi Arabia, which did not hesitate to threaten. At the time, she worked as a special rapporteur at the UN on issues relating to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
