Ahmed Shaheed
| Ahmed Shaheed | |
|---|---|
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| United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran | |
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Assumed office 17 June 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Vacant (last held by Maurice Copithorne) |
| Succeeded by | Asma Jahangir |
| Minister for Foreign Affairs of Maldives | |
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In office 12 November 2008 – 10 December 2010 |
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| President | Mohamed Nasheed |
| Preceded by | Abdulla Shahid |
| Succeeded by | Ahmed Naseem |
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In office 14 July 2005 – 21 August 2007 |
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| President | Maumoon Abdul Gayoom |
| Preceded by | Fathulla Jameel |
| Succeeded by | Abdulla Shahid |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 |
| Nationality | Maldivian |
| Political party | Maldives Democratic Party |
| Residence | Colchester, Essex |
| Alma mater |
University of Aberystwyth, (BSc) University of Queensland, (IR) |
| Religion | Islam |
| ^ Resigned from office on 24 June 2010 during the En-masse cabinet resignation. Reinstated on 7 July 2010. | |
Ahmed Shaheed ޝަހީދު (born 1964) is a Maldivian diplomat and politician and an expert on human rights and advocate for democracy. On 24 March 2016, he was appointed for the sixth year running as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Dr Shaheed is also the Chairperson of the Geneva-based international human rights think-tank, Universal Rights Group, which was launched in January 2014.
Prior to his appointment as a UN envoy with the rank of Assistant Secretary General, he was a Maldivian politician and human rights defender. He served as Maldivian Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2008 to December 2010; previously, he had served as Minister of Foreign Affairs for two years, from 14 July 2005 until August 20, 2007.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has refused him entry into the country and has declared him to be an agent of both the CIA and Israel.
On 13 June 2016, Shaheed was nominated by the Consultative Group of Ambassadors comprising Albania, Brazil, Egypt, France and Thailand, as the most suitable candidate to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council for the post of United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, to succeed Professor Heiner Bielefeldt of Germany.
A career diplomat since 1982, Shaheed served as the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Maldives from 1998-2004. As Permanent Secretary of Maldives, he actively lobbied to widen and deepen regional cooperation within South Asia, incorporating discussions on human rights, regional peace, and free trade into the agenda of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation, including the pursuit of a South Asian Social Charter. Prior to his appointment as Permanent Secretary, he had served, from 1997–98, as a member of the Group of South Asian Eminent Persons, appointed by the Heads of State of the South Asian region. At the national level, in 2003, Shaheed also secured political approval for the creation of Maldives National Human Rights Commission, which was established in November 2003, and for accession to the UN Convention against Torture, as part of the human rights related reforms the government embarked on in late 2003.
At the end of 2003, Shaheed retired from the diplomatic service and took up a position in the President's Office mandated to formulate and coordinate political and human rights reform as well as government communications, following outbreaks of civil unrest in the capital and nearby areas.
In July 2005, Shaheed used his position as Government Spokesperson to reject the condemnation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Chief Justice of the Maldives. The Opposition MDP accused him of being the chief "spin doctor" for President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom while independent human rights NGOs such as Hama Jamiyya hail him as a champion of human rights.
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