I have high hopes in the appointment of the former President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, as the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She succeeds Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein when his term ends on August 31, 2018.
Like her predecessor, Bachelet promises to be fearless and uncompromising in the defense of human rights and in the fight against human rights violators.
Bachelet and her family were victims of human rights violations under Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. She also suffered arbitrary detention, torture, and exile. Despite this, she went on to join the fight for the restoration of democracy in Chile, and eventually become its first woman President.
Bachelet is therefore an ideal figure to occupy the UN High Commissioner post. I expect her to be unyielding in her convictions. She will not be easily intimidated by the world’s dictators and tyrants like Duterte. ###