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First Asian, Muslim, Woman To Head Amnesty International
DAKAR, Aug 19 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - When 44-year-old Bangladeshi national Irene Zubaida Khan took over as secretary general of Amnesty International (AI) Saturday, she became the first Asian, first Muslim, and first woman to head the human rights watchdog.
Khan formally replaced Senegal's Pierre Sané as head of the London-based organization on Friday after a 21-year career with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Accepting a candle, representing the organization's logo of a candle wrapped in barbed wire, from her predecessor, Khan spoke about her hopes and enthusiasm for the job at hand.
"This is a symbolic moment for Amnesty International which we can all share before we focus on the way forward, the challenges which face human rights in the 21st century and our role in tackling them," Khan said, according to an AI website press release.
Born on December 24, 1956, in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, she is an expert in public, international and human rights law after studies at the University of Manchester, England, and Harvard Law School in the United States.
She began her career as a legal assistant with the International Commission of Lawyers in Geneva, before joining the UNHCR in 1980 as a counselor for the protection of refugees.
During postings in Southeast Asia, Pakistan, Britain and the Republic of Ireland, Khan has always been particularly motivated by her work in the field, AFP reported.
In 1995, the UNHCR appointed her chief of mission of their Indian bureau, where she was responsible for the protection of 200,000 refugees. Three years later, she was named head of information and research at the agency, before becoming deputy director of the international protection service in 1999.
During her 21 years at the UNHCR, Khan focused on direct work with refugees and displaced people to protect their rights.
"Human rights violations are perpetrated on a massive scale, hundreds, thousands, millions," an AI website press release quoted Khan as saying.
"But at its very essence, Amnesty International is about individuals: those whose rights are violated and those who speak out against the violations. Human rights violations are not committed against the 'other side' but against a mother, a sister, a brother, a son.
"Our challenge is to mobilize millions of people across the globe in solidarity with the victims, to know their names, their faces, their identities, their stories."
Khan becomes the seventh secretary general of Amnesty International in its 40-year history.
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