Irene Khan

  • Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression and opinion, United Nations
Irene Khan is the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, appointed in August 2020. She is the first woman to hold this mandate since its establishment in 1993. A Bangladeshi-British lawyer and human rights advocate, Khan previously served as Secretary-General of Amnesty International from 2001 to 2009 and as Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) from 2012 to 2019. She holds degrees from the University of Manchester and Harvard Law School. Khan is also a Distinguished Fellow at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.