The journey of Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein: the sixth UN Human Rights Commissioner

On Inside Geneva this week: part five of our series marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

Imogen Foulkes talks to Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, who served as UN Human Rights Commissioner from 2014 to 2018. 

He became the first Asian, Muslim and Arab to hold the position. But did he plan a career in human rights from an early age?

"No, I was far too immature and delinquent to be thinking lofty ideas and profound thoughts," he said.  

But two years in the former Yugoslavia during the conflict there focused his mind.

 "The senselessness of it all, there’s nothing that can justify killing, or destruction like that. Nothing at all," he thinks. 

When he took the job as UN human rights commissioner, he became famous for his tough approach.

 "I knew from my experience in the former Yugoslavia, that if the UN secretariat believed, I think mistakenly, that it’s in the friends business, it produces catastrophic results. The UN is not there to become friendly with the member states."

He spoke out wherever he saw injustice or abuse, from Myanmar, to Libya, or ISIS, and even world leaders.

"Someone asked me, possibly you, asked me about Donald Trump, and I said ‘yes, I think he’s dangerous.' And that became the headline out of the press conference," he said.  

Today, his commitment to universal human rights remains firm. 

 "What we’re aiming at is to create a better human being. That’s what we’re trying to do with the human rights agenda, to improve ourselves and our conduct. To speak out and use non-violent means to protest conditions which are fundamentally unjust and unfair, and who can argue with that?"

Listen to the full episode to find out more about Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein's life and career. 

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