UN General Assembly approves appointment of Chile’s Bachelet as rights chief

The UN General Assembly approved on Friday the appointment of former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet as the world body’s new human rights chief. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced the appointment of Bachelet on Wednesday. She will replace Jordan’s Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, who is stepping down at the end of the month after a four-year term in the Geneva-based job. Bachelet, who was tortured under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, was the first woman to be president of Chile, Reuters said. A former pediatrician, Bachelet first served as president from 2006 to 2010. She then led UN Women, which supports gender equality and women's empowerment, between 2010 and 2013, and returned then to Chile, serving again as president from 2014 to March this year.