Zeid bin Ra'ad
Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad al-Hussein زید ابن رعد الحسين | |
---|---|
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights | |
In office 1 September 2014 – 31 August 2018 | |
Deputy | Kate Gilmore |
Secretary General | Ban Ki-moon |
Preceded by | Navi Pillay |
Succeeded by | Michelle Bachelet |
Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations | |
In office September 2010 – 22 July 2014 | |
Monarch | Abdullah II |
Preceded by | Mohammed Al-Allaf |
Succeeded by | Dina Kawar |
In office 7 August 2000 – 2 January 2007 | |
Preceded by | Hassan Abu Nimeh |
Succeeded by | Mohammed Al-Allaf |
Ambassador of Jordan to the United States | |
In office 22 January 2007 – 27 February 2010 | |
Monarch | Abdullah II |
Preceded by | Karim Kawar |
Succeeded by | Alia Hatough Bouran |
Personal details | |
Born | Amman, Jordan | 26 January 1964
Spouse |
Majda Lind (mother) |
Education | Johns Hopkins University (BA) Christ's College, Cambridge (PhD) |
House | Hashemite |
Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad bin Zeid al-Hussein (
A career diplomat, he served as Jordan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2000 until 2007, when he was appointed as Jordan's Ambassador to the United States and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico. He was re-appointed Permanent Representative in 2010 and served until 2014, resigning shortly before his selection as High Commissioner.[4] In 2019, Zeid was invited to join The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice and human rights founded by Nelson Mandela.[5]
He is the son of Prince
Education and early life
Zeid was born in
Zeid received a commission as an officer in the Jordanian desert police (the successor to the
Diplomatic career
Zeid served as Jordan's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1996 to 2000. In August 2000 he was appointed Permanent Representative at the
In January 2014, Zeid became president of the United Nations Security Council and chaired the Security Council's 1533 and 1521 committees, with regard to two sanctions regimes: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia.[11]
From 16 September 2010 to 7 March 2012, Zeid was the Chairman of the Country-Specific Configuration of the UN
With reference to the International Criminal Court, and from 1996 to 2010, he was:
- President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court(2002–2005).
- Chairman of the informal negotiations on the 'elements' of the individual offenses falling under the crimes of: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity, and War Crimes (1999–2000).
- Chairman of the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression at the Review Conference of the Rome Statutein Kampala (June 2010).
Whilst at the UN, he further chaired the Consultative Committee for the
He delivered the
On 6 June 2014,
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
On 8 September 2014, in his maiden speech to the UN's 47-member Human Rights Council at the body's 27th session in Geneva, Zeid strongly criticized the so-called
The newly appointed Commissioner also focused on other troubled areas of the world, including Venezuela, Ukraine and Gaza.[19] His press statements are available on the website of his former office.[16]
He has reported to the Security Council on Iraq
He said that the United States had an obligation under international law to prosecute all those responsible for
On 17 April 2015, Zeid placed the field operations director at the OHCHR, Anders Kompass, under administrative leave after Kompass provided French authorities with an internal UN report detailing sexual abuse of children by French UN peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.[23] The decision was reversed on 5 May 2015 after being found "prima facie unlawful" by the United Nations Dispute Tribunal.[24][25]
On 27 April of that year, Zeid criticized a column in
In September 2015, Zeid criticized
In August 2016, Zeid decried the
On 17 August 2016, Zeid expressed deep regret at the failure of UN Human Rights Office to gain access to Kashmir, despite allegations of state sponsorship of violence and the almost daily reports of violence in the region.[30]
In response to the death of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, who died of organ failure while in government custody, Zeid said in a statement that "The human rights movement in China and across the world has lost a principled champion who devoted his life to defending and promoting human rights, peacefully and consistently, and who was jailed for standing up for his beliefs."[31]
In 2019, he was appointed Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG), for services to the promotion and protection of human rights.[32]
Also in 2019 Zeid was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[33]
Accusations of domestic policy intervention as HCHR
As Commissioner, the remit of Zeid's position includes the right to criticise those nations’ governments who are monitored and found to abuse human rights. Since these statements concern domestic policy issues of UN member-states, frequent arguments against criticism is that the censure of individual states are close to impinging on
In June 2016, he opined on the United Kingdom's referendum vote on whether to leave the European Union, the so-called Brexit process. Zeid urged UK authorities to take care to prevent xenophobic attacks in the wake of the vote.[34]
In September, the
On 12 September 2016, Zeid expressed concern over the
Zeid was condemned by
By the time he ended his service as High Commissioner, one journalist reported that because Zeid was famously blunt and spared no one, his speeches and statements were eagerly awaited by the Geneva press corps. This endeared him to human rights activists worldwide.[40]
Honours and awards
On 27 May 2020, Zeid Raad Al Hussein was invited to and gave special remarks at his alma mater Johns Hopkins University's 2020 Commencement ceremony.[41] Other notable guest speakers during the virtual ceremony included Reddit co-founder and Commencement speaker Alexis Ohanian; philanthropist and former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg; Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leading member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force; and senior class president Pavan Patel.[42]
Personal life
HH Prince Zeid is the son of Prince
Zeid was married on 5 July 2000 in
Zeid's younger brother,
References
- ^ Perry World House
- ^ "Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein Appointed IPI's Next President & CEO". 12 March 2021.
- ^ a b OHCHR. "High Commissioner". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- Jordan Times. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "Former UN rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein to continue his battle as an Elder". The National. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Prince Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein". Christ's College Cambridge Alumni. Retrieved 13 September 2017.
- ^ "Distinguished Alumni: Z. Al-Hussein - Christ's College". alumni.christs.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "Honorary Fellows | Christs College Cambridge". www.christs.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ a b "OHCHR | Zeid Ra´ad Al Hussein". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ "Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein Biographical Note" (PDF). Office of the Secretary-General. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
- ^ "Monthly Assessments of the Work of the Security Council for 2014 | United Nations Security Council". www.un.org. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- ^ United Nations. "Comprehensive review of the whole question of peacekeeping operations in all their aspects". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- American University International Law Review. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ^ Auschwitz Institute. "Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation International Advisory Board - Former Member - Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ "New UN Human Rights Chief Warns Of A 'House Of Blood' In Iraq And Syria". Reuters. 8 September 2014 – via Huff Post.
- ^ a b OHCHR. "News Search". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ UN: Landmark Resolution on Anti-Gay Bias, hrw.org.
- ^ "Holocaust Key to Understanding ISIS, Says UN Human Rights Chief". Haaretz. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
- ^ OHCHR. "Opening Statement by Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Human Rights Council 27th Session - Geneva, 8 September, 2014". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ OHCHR. "Statement to the Security Council on Iraq by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, Delivered in New York, 18 November 2014". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- ^ OHCHR. "Keynote speech by Mr. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Conference on "Education for Peace" Palais des Nations, Geneva, 14 January 2015". Retrieved 5 February 2015.
- New York Times, Jan. 30, 2015
- ^ Laville, Sandra (29 April 2015). "UN aid worker suspended for leaking report on child abuse by French troops". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ "Order on an application for suspension of action" (PDF). United Nations Dispute Tribunal. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ Laville, Sandra (6 May 2015). "UN suspension of sexual abuse report whistleblower is unlawful, tribunal rules". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ Jones, Sam (24 April 2015). "UN human rights chief denounces Sun over Katie Hopkins 'cockroach' column". The Guardian.
- Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. 28 September 2015.
- ^ "After Yemen funeral raid, U.N. rues failure to punish war crimes". Reuters. 10 October 2016.
- ^ Stephanie Nebehay, U.N. rights boss decries purge in Turkey, voices concerns on China, Reuters (10 August 2016).
- ^ "Zeid urges India and Pakistan to grant independent observers access to Kashmir". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- ^ "World reacts with praise, sadness to Liu Xiaobo's death". Inquirer News. 14 July 2017.
- ^ "Honorary British Awards to Foreign Nationals – 2019".
- ^ "Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ "Zeid warns Britain on post-Brexit xenophobia". uk.reuters.com. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "UN human rights office accused of 'bizarre' behaviour after condemning the 'free market'". The Telegraph. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "Zeid warns against populists and demagogues in Europe and U.S." www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "US election: Trump presidency 'dangerous', says UN rights chief". BBC News. 12 October 2016.
- ^ Keaten, Jamey; Klapper, Bradley (7 October 2016). "Russia lodges formal complaint with UN over criticism of Trump". Toronto Star. Associated Press. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- ^ Gita, Ruth Abbey (20 March 2018). "Palace to UN rights chief: Respect Philippine democracy". Sunstar. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- ^ swissinfo.ch, Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. "The hardest job? Change at the top of UN Human Rights". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
- ^ Zeid Raad Al Hussein (21 May 2020). "Johns Hopkins Alumni Welcome the Class of 2020". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
- ^ Hub staff report (21 May 2020). "Senior class president Pavan Patel said the Class of 2020 is "ready to make its mark"". Johns Hopkins University. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Bonhams. "Bonhams sets new world record for Turkish Artist Fahrelnissa Zeid (1901-1991)". Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "AP Mine Ban Convention: Landmine treaty Special Envoy concludes official visit calling on Myanmar to take concrete steps towards accession". www.apminebanconvention.org. Retrieved 5 June 2018.