HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE IN NEPAL

8 June 2007


United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour announced today the appointment of Richard Bennett as head of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal (OHCHR Nepal) and her Representative in the country. Mr. Bennett will take up his position by the middle of August 2007.

The High Commissioner said Mr. Bennett’s extensive international human rights experience will be an asset to OHCHR’s operation in Nepal. “I am confident that under Mr. Bennett’s leadership, OHCHR will continue to provide the highest level of support and assistance to Nepal to address human rights issues in the context of the peace process, to develop its capacity to protect and promote human rights, and to end impunity,” she said.

Mr. Bennett has been serving since August 2004 as the Representative of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan and Chief Human Rights Officer in the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan. He has extensive experience in human rights protection both domestically and internationally. Mr. Bennett has served with the United Nations in senior human rights posts in complex operations in East Timor and Sierra Leone since 2000. Prior to joining the United Nations, he worked for many years with the New Zealand Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Justice.