On June 1, I attended a lecture held to commemorate the foundation of Ferris University in Yokohama city. The speaker was Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty International. She is, in fact, the first female, first Asian, and first Muslim representative of the largest human rights organization in the world. She had previously worked for the Office of the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees. After taking up the leadership of AI in August, 2001, she was immediately confronted with the terrorist attacks of September 11. Working in troubled times following the attacks, she has grappled with many human rights issues and has developed the role of AI by expanding its work across many diverse fields. At this particular lecture, Secretary General Khan spoke of her own personal experiences in relation to Amnesty International’s “Stop Violence Against Women” campaign.
