SL civil society marks International Human Rights Day
Civil Society Platform of Sri Lanka, a collective of Sri Lankan civil society organizations organised a public forum to mark International Human Rights Day in Colombo today (10).
This forum was convened by prominent rights advocates in Sri Lanka including Dr. P. Saravanamuttu, Dr. Ms. Nimalka Fernando, Mr. Brito Fernando, Mr. K. W. Janaranjana, Mr. Harsha Gunasena and Freddy Gamage.
Keynote address was delivered by well known public litigator and environmental activist – Mr. Ravindranath Dabare. He has been the Chairman of the Centre for Environmental Justice since 2008.
The Forum consisted of two panel discussions. A discussion titled ‘Enjoyment of Human Rights and Legal Challenges’ was moderated by Chairperson of International Movement against all forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR) – Dr. Nimalka Fernando. She was also the former Commissioner at the Office for the Missing Persons (OMP), Sri Lanka’s first ever mechanism devoted for Transitional Justice (TJ).
Mr. Basil Fernando – Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, Mr. Upul Kumarapperuma – Executive Committee member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, Ms. Ranitha Gnanarajah – Programme Manager of Centre for Human Rights and Development as well as Mr. Lakshan Dias – Chairman of Rights Now Collective for Democracy contributed to the panel discussion.