Magnitsky Awards
Presenter’s Bio

Dr. Agnès Callamard was appointed U.N. Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings on August 1, 2016.

She is the current Director of Columbia Global Freedom of Expression at Columbia University and is a Special Adviser to the President of Columbia University. She directed the global freedom of expression organization ARTICLE 19 for nine years, and led HAP International (the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership), which is the first international self-regulatory body for humanitarian agencies.

She was Chef de Cabinet for the Secretary General of Amnesty International (AI) and AI’s Research-Policy Coordinator, leading its policy work and research on women’s human rights.

Prior to this, she taught and conducted research on international refugee movements for the Center for Refugee Studies at York University in Toronto. Dr. Callamard has lectured on human rights in universities in Europe and North America and has advised senior levels of multilateral organizations, most recently the United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention. Dr. Callamard has led human rights investigations in more than 30 countries.

As UN Special Rapporteur, she undertook the investigation into the extrajudicial execution of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

She has published extensively on human rights, including women’s rights, refugee movements and the methodology of human rights investigation. In particular, she has authored or directed volumes, on freedom of expression and informaiton, political killings, excessive use of force and sexual violence in armed conflicts.