Nazila Ghanea

Nazila Ghanea (born August 1968) is an Iranian-born British lawyer. She is a professor of law at Oxford University and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

Life Ghanea was born in Shiraz in August 1968. She left Iran in about 1979.

In 2000 she was employed at the University of London. In 2006 she left London to be the Professor of International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford and to lead their Master's course on International human rights law. She has spent three decades in academia including a year teaching in China.

She became the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief on 1 August 2022 when she succeeded Professor Ahmed Shaheed of the University of Essex. She had been proposed for the role by the state of Oman and several NGOs. She was chosen finally after short listing and interviews. It is an unpaid position to support the commitment of 173 countries to article 18 which states "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching."

Ghanea was the first Iranian to hold the UN position

Ghanea has been a member of the panel organised by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights to assist OSCE nations with achieving religious freedoms.

According to an interview published in Brussels Morning, Ghanea stated that “The influence of religion and family beliefs likely shaped my choice in this field. I advocate fervently for universal freedom of religion and belief, emphasizing the importance of respecting others’ humanity and conscience.”

Publications include The Challenge of Religious Discrimination at the Dawn of the New Millennium, 2003, edited by Human Rights, the UN and the Bahá’ís in Iran, 2003 Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary, 2016 (with Heiner Bielefeldt and Michael Wiener) Women and Religious Freedom: Synergies and Opportunities, 2017 Hatred on the basis of religion or belief: Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, 2024