Agnès Callamard
Profession: Secretary-General Amnesty International
Nationality: French
Why an honorary doctorate?
Agnès Callamard is a French human rights activist with an impressive track record. Throughout her career she has worked with aid and human rights organisations. From 2016 to 2021, she was special rapporteur appointed by the UN’s Human Rights Council, with a mandate to investigate extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions.
Every war victim is one too many
She led the investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi; she received death threats after presenting her findings in 2019. She also investigated the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and concluded that the Kremlin was behind the attack.In 2021, she became secretary-general of Amnesty International, which she had previously also worked for.
Agnès Callamard has been nominated by the university for societal merit.
What is an honorary doctorate?
VUB has awarded honorary doctorates every year since 1978 to personalities from the most diverse backgrounds who have made a remarkable contribution to their field and to society. From this solemn moment of recognition, they bear the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa of VUB.