Dr. Agnès Callamard, born in 1964 in Pierrelatte, France, is a leading figure in the global human rights movement and currently serves as Secretary General of Amnesty International. Her lifelong commitment to justice was shaped by her family history, including the legacy of her grandfather, a French resistance fighter executed by Nazi forces, and the influence of her mother, a schoolteacher dedicated to social justice. Callamard studied political science and international affairs in France and the United States, completing her PhD at the New School for Social Research in 1995 with pioneering research on displacement and conflict in Malawi.
Over the past three decades, Callamard has advanced human rights protection through leadership roles in advocacy, academia, and the United Nations. She first joined Amnesty International in 1998 before founding the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership and later led global freedom of expression efforts at Article 19 and Columbia University. From 2016 to 2021, she served as UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings, conducting high-profile investigations that brought international scrutiny to powerful states. Returning to Amnesty International as Secretary General in 2021, she now oversees the organisation’s global strategy and response to major human rights crises, including Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians, the genocide in Gaza, and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She is also establishing the 2048 Commission to help modernise global human rights governance for an era defined by escalating and interlocking global crises.