Bahrain Mirror (Agencies): United Nations General-Secretary António Guterres appointed former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet as high commissioner for human rights.

Guterres informed the United Nations General Assembly of his choice. The assembly now has to vote to approve this appointment, according to a representative's statement. Former high commissioner Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein officially stepped down from his position since December 2017.

Michelle Bachelet (born on September 29, 1951) is a member of the Socialist Party of Chile and served as the president of Chile from 11 March 2006 to 11 March 2010. She is the first to serve 2 presidential terms in Chile since 1932. Bachelet has worked as a physician-surgeon and has studied military strategies. She was appointed as minister of health and minister of national defense by former president Ricardo Lagos. She is a mother of three and is fluent in English, German, Portuguese, French, and Italian aside from her mother tongue, Spanish.

Bachelet began her political career after she was imprisoned in 1975 along with her mother 2 years after her father's death. They were detained at a torture facility where Bachelet reports that she suffered extreme humiliation. Bachelet and her mother left Chile in exile to Australia and then to East Germany where she continued her higher education, before returning to Chile in 1979 with her child Sebastien. She finished her education and graduated as a physician-surgeon in 1982, but was hampered from working in the public sector for political reasons. Bachelet earned a scholarship from the Chilean Medical Chamber to specialize in pediatrics and public health before giving birth to her daughter in 1984 and working with an organization to help support young victims of the former dictatorship.

After Chile transitioned to a democracy in 1990, Bachelet started working in the public sector and as a consultant for the World Health Organization. While a member of the Socialist Party, she felt that she neglected the military sector, so she studied military strategy in Santiago and Washington. Her experience and work caught the attention of Presiden Ricardo Lagos who appointed her as Minister of Health in 2000 and Minister of National Defense in 2002, becoming the first woman in Latin America to hold this position.

Bachelet has never "held a grudge" despite the suffering she went through. In the 30th anniversary of the coup d'etat, Bachelet called for a reconciliation between civilians and the military leading to a rise in her popularity. She describes herself as a normal Chilean not different from her countrymen, saying" I work, run my family and leave my daughter in school, but I strive for public service". Her close friends describe her "as addicted to her job and almost never sleeps", yet "she loves life and enjoys dancing and playing the guitar".

Arabic Version