Ian Martin

Ian Martin (born 10 August 1946) is an English human rights activist/advisor, former Secretary General of Amnesty International, and sometime United Nations official. His most recent major UN assignment was as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya. From 2015 to 2018 he was Executive Director of Security Council Report. Since December 2024, he has been Chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Association - UK.

Early life Martin was educated at Brentwood School in Brentwood, Essex, and graduated from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, with first class honours in history and economics.

After returning to the United Kingdom, Martin worked with the Redbridge Community Relations Council in London then served five years as the General Secretary of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants followed by three years as the General Secretary of the Fabian Society. The number of members, supporters, and subscribers to the organization nearly doubled in size during Martin's tenure as secretary-general. The Human Rights Now! and A Conspiracy of Hope concert tours took place during Martin's leadership. According to Hopgood, Martin's decision was partially due to conflict with the chairman of Amnesty's International Executive Committee, Peter Duffy. Portugal.

Eritrea From 2000 to 2001 he was appointed Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea, based in Asmara. In October 2005, the government of King Gyanendra put in place a restrictive media ordinance which resulted in Martin's office releasing a statement decrying it as "violat[ing] international human rights standards". The Board's report, a summary of which was released on 5 May 2009, concluded that seven separate incidents were the result of firing by the Israeli Defence Forces, but found no evidence that U.N. facilities had been used to launch attacks against the IDF.

The Board also recommended that the U.N. further investigate violations of international humanitarian law by those on both sides of the conflict: Israeli forces, Hamas, and other Palestinian militants. In April 2011, WikiLeaks released documents indicating that United States Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice contacted Ban on 4 May 2009 and successfully pressured him into rejecting Martin's recommendation for the far-reaching investigation. The United Nations Human Rights Council had by then redefined the scope of the investigation it had mandated and established the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict headed by Richard Goldstone. On 10 May 2012 Martin told the United Nations Security Council that there were credible reports of loyalists to toppled leader Muammar Gaddafi being mistreated and even tortured to death in detention centres under the transitional government's control. In April 2012, unidentified individuals threw a bomb at his convoy as it was travelling through Benghazi. No one was wounded. On 8 August 2012 Martin was present in Tripoli as the National Transitional Council handed over power to the General National Congress.

In 2022, his book, All Necessary Measures? The United Nations and International Intervention in Libya, was published by Hurst.

Other United Nations assignments Martin was a member of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which reported in 2015.

In 2025, Martin undertook a strategic assessment of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Other international appointments

Bosnia and Herzegovina From 1998 to 1999, Martin served as Deputy High Representative for Human Rights in the Office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Other In 2003, he was given an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex. He has lectured on human rights at universities including Harvard Law School and his writings include Self-Determination in East Timor: the United Nations, the Ballot, and International Intervention

Views Martin has supported the International Commission of Jurists's conclusion that war crimes and acts of genocide had been committed by the Pakistan Army and its collaborators during the Bangladesh Liberation War.