Shetty, who is the Chief Executive of international anti-poverty NGO ActionAid, has been the Director of the UN's Millennium Campaign for the last six years.
"We are thrilled that Salil will be joining us and leading Amnesty International as we renew our fight to end injustice - campaigning with those imprisoned because of their ideas, those on death row, those being tortured, and those who have their rights denied because they live in poverty," said Peter Pack, the chair of Amnesty's International Executive Committee.
Pack said Shetty, who has a track record in mobilising people, civil society and governments for rights and dignity, is the right person to take Amnesty into the next stage of its work, particularly its plans to expand in the "global south".
"I feel privileged to be given this amazing opportunity at a time when the world needs human rights for all more than ever before," Shetty, who will take up his new job in June next year, said in his reaction to the announcement.
Shetty succeeds Irene Khan who steps down after eight years as Amnesty International's Secretary General on December 31, 2009.
Published 21 December 2009, 15:46 IST