Irene Khan

Irene Khan
Khan in November 2003
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression
Incumbent
Assumed office July 2020
Preceded by	David Kaye
Director-General of the International Development Law Organization
In office January 2012 – December 2019
Preceded by	William T. Loris
Succeeded by	Jan Beagle
Chancellor of the University of Salford
In office 2009–2015
Preceded by	Professor Sir Martin Harris
Succeeded by	Jackie Kay
Secretary-General of Amnesty International
In office 2001–2009
Preceded by	Pierre Sané
Succeeded by	Salil Shetty
Personal details
Born	Irene Zubaida Khan (1956-12-24) 24 December 1956 (age 67) Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
Nationality	Bangladeshi, British
Education	Law
Alma mater	University of Manchester Harvard Law School

Irene Zubaida Khan (born 24 December 1956) is a Bangladeshi lawyer appointed as of August 2020 to be the United Nations Special Rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion, the first woman appointed to this mandate.^[1] She previously served as the seventh Secretary General of Amnesty International (from 2001 to 2009). In 2011, she was elected Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome, an intergovernmental organization that works to promote the rule of law, and sustainable development. She was a consulting editor of The Daily Star in Bangladesh from 2010 to 2011.^[2]