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International Human Rights Day - 2019

The International Human Rights Day 2019 was celebrated at the Kandyan Arts Residency on the 14th December 2019, organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy, Sri Lanka with more than 250 participants. Focusing on the involvement of the community in protecting & promoting Human Rights, the theme for 2019 was "As a community, let us protect the Rights and respect the Dignity of our brothers & sisters".

World Mental Health Day (10 October) is a day declared for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 with the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries.

Human Rights Office in Kandy working with different kinds of survivor groups for their legal and psychological needs, believe, that mental health is a human right. We celebrated it with the survivor families of both ethnic groups Sinhala and Tamil. Among the participants, families of the disappeared and of the prisoners and the survivors of Rape & Torture and other Human Rights violation and the members of the support group.

The family members of the disappeared brought along with them their produce / harvest such as fruits, vegetables, flower plants, eatables etc. Behind each of the stalls, the photos of the disappeared were posted, while the consumers bought items the family members had the opportunity to speak about their disappeared, their loved ones and explain the reason for their campaign...TO KNOW THE TRUTH....

Soon after the Sunday service at Fatima Shrine, people walked into the marked as they were already prepared during the service. The disappearances day was explained in length during the introduction and the homily. Further Fatima Shrine at Padiwatte Kundasale, Kandy was significant in remembering the disappeared as thousands of youth were killed during the JVP insurrection in 1989-91 on the bridge of Tennakumbura- Kandy and thrown into the Maheweli river, right in front of the Fatima Shrine.

22 Priests and Religious joined the Human Rights Workshop at OMI Scholasticate, Ampitiya - Kandy, Sri Lanka from the 16th -19th July 2019 organized by the Human Rights Office, Kandy with the theme “To ensure ethnic and religious harmony, Let us promote Human Rights”.

At the outset Dr. Philip Setunga made a brief introduction to the workshop, presenting the purpose and the process, while recalling the discussions and the issues that were raised during the previous workshop held in Galle in February 2019. Since there were few new participants, a brief introduction was given by each participant explaining the areas of work they are engaged in.

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International day in support of the victims of Torture - 2019

“Justice Delay is Injustice” was the theme of the International day in support of the Torture Survivors held in Kandyan Arts Residency Kandy on the 29th June 2019 organized by the Human Right Office, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Torture is one of the most brutal human rights violations that routinely take place in police stations in Sri Lanka. Due to the court delay Torture victims further suffer and hence victims prefer to go silent without seeking Justice. Female Torture victims rarely speak about Torture they suffer, however H. M. Podikumarihami, in spite of threats by the OIC of Mahiyanganaya Police, continues with her struggle for Justice. Hence in 2019 once again she made he voice heard and presented the second chapter, the atrocities committed by the Mahiyanganaya Police since “2018 Torture day” during which she initially opened up, her Torture story to the public. The worst threats have come with the declaration of emergency regulations after the 4/21 attack. Podikumarihami was threatened by the OIC to the extent that she would be detained without bail with fabricated charges of possessing explosives, if she does not withdraw the Fundamental Rights case filed in the Supreme Court.

Exactly after a decade of the civil war- since the declaration of cessation of the military intervention by the State, the need for an evaluation of our own initiatives was felt essential in the present context. Hence the Human Rights Workshop for Religious and Priests focused to make a personal assessment of one’s own initiatives for justice and reconciliation with theme “Let us reflect on our own involvements to envision future commitments”. Thus, the meeting was to create an occasion for each other who have been meeting since 2003.

The workshop was held from the 04th - 07th February 2019 at the Pastoral Centre, Halpathota, in Galle Diocese with 31 participants.

The Human Rights Office in Kandy organized the Human Rights Day 2018 coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the 10th anniversary of the Human Rights Office at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy on the 09th December 2018 with the theme “In spite of our differences, Let us respect and ensure each other’s Rights”.

The International day of the Disappeared scheduled for the 30th August was commemorated on the 15th September 2018 The programme was organized by the Human Rights office Kandy and held at the OMI Scholasticate in Ampitiya Kandy Sri Lanka.
Staff and members of the support group joined 59 Participants from the families of the disappeared from Mannara, Jaffna and from Kandy for the event. An introduction to the day's programme was given by the Director of the Human Rights office Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga which was followed by stories of abduction and enforced disappearances. Two women from the North and two from the south narrated their stories. Even though the abductions and enforced disappearances took place several years ago, for the wives and mothers who narrated the dreadful incidents that made their sons and husbands disappear, they were fresh in their hearts and minds.

Torture day in support of the Torture Victims

“Everybody is harmed when one person is Tortured…."
“Let the survivor speak…."

Podikumarihami narrated the story of brutal Torture at the hands of the Mahiyanganaya police officers and continuous attacks, threats and legal persecution that she had to face. The audience was stunned including the panel Dr. Deepika Udugama (Chairmen of the NHRCSL),
Ven. Dr. Atipola Mangala, Mr. Titus Manatunga (Senior Lawyer) and Namalika Dissanayaka ( Principal - Blue Rose School for Special Needs )The event was organized to commemorate the International Torture day in support of the Torture victims held on the 29th June 2018 at Kandyan Arts Residency in Kandy

The clashed between the Muslims and Sinhalese that sparked off in Kandy in early February 2018 brought about a distrust among the people of different regions who lived in harmony for centuries. However it is a well-known fact these attacks were organized by few extreme groups with ulterior motives.

The 2018 Sinhala / Tamil New year celebrations organized by the Human Rights Office in Kandy brought together not only leaders of all four major religions but also the faithful to join hands to heal the wounds an reaffirm the trust. Around 175 -225 survivors of Torture, Rape, families of the disappeared and the families of the prisoners came together on the 21st April 2018 to the premises of the Fatima Church in Kundasale - Kandy to celebrate the 2018 Sinhala & Hindu New Year.

International Women's day 2018 was organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy Sri Lanka with the participation of the families of the disappeared, the families of the prisoners, the support group and the staff. Although the event was to be celebrated on the 08th March, it has to be postponed to the 28th March due to the curfew imposed in Kandy District on the 08th March as some extreme groups created clashes between the Sinhalese & the Muslim communities in Kandy.

Human Rights Workshop for Religious and Priests was held from the 05th to 08th February 2018 in Bishops House - Badulla with 30 participants with the theme of "Live and Let Live". Bishop Winston Fernando, the Bishop of Badulla & the Chairman of the Sri Lankan Catholic Bishops Conference addressed the participants while welcoming them to Badulla and highlighted the Human Rights issues that we are faced with. It was followed by a lively discussion on Right to life.

Celebrating the International Human Rights Day 2017, the Human Rights Office in Kandy organized the Human Rights Salutation held at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy on the 10th December 2017 with the theme “Let’s stand up for Equality, Justice and Human Dignity” with the participation of more than 500 people including religious leaders, victims, human rights defenders, award winners and well-wishers.

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International Day of the Disappeared - 2017

The International day of the disappeared scheduled for the 30th August was commemorated on the 07th September 2017 by the Human Rights Office Kandy at Wattegama Town Hall in Kandy Sri Lanka, with the families of the disappeared from the North & South of Sri Lanka in remembering their loved ones and calling the government to reveal the truth about the disappeared persons by activating the Office of the Missing Persons established by a bill on the 23rd August 2016 to which a fresh amendment was passed unanimously in Parliament in June 2017.

36 Priests and Religious joined the Human Rights workshop at the Oblate Scholasticate - Ampitiya in Kandy, Sri Lanka from the 17th to 20th July 2017 with the theme of “To seek enlightenment and spiritual enrichment”. It was the first time that we have had a meeting at the Oblate Scholasticate in Kandy, where the atmosphere was quite conducive for a meeting of this nature with its seclusion, pleasant climate and the undisturbed surroundings. There were more than 15 lay persons for the first two days, following up the session of Professor Sunil Wijesinghe who made a presentation last year in 2016.

The workshop was planned to combine four dimensions: a) educational, b) collective response to the challenges posed by St. Joseph Vaz in the present day context, c) spiritual reflections. d) Personal reflections.

With the theme “Use the Right to Information Act and Prevent Torture” the Human Rights Office held an exhibition on the 25th June 2017 at Nawalapitiya. The Right to Information Act that was passed on the 04th of August 2016 in the Sri Lankan Parliament and it was explained to more than 3000 people who gathered at St. Mary’s Church Parish Hall. Visual presentations both in Sinhala and Tamil were accompanied by an exhibition on Torture and the Act on Right to Information.

The signature campaign that was launched by the Human Rights Office - Kandy of Sri Lanka in 2016 to collect 10,000 signatures to request the Attorney General to prosecute the Torture Perpetrators under the Torture Act no 22 of 1994, was further carried on as the Attorney General has not indicted Torture perpetrators for the past 08 years.

International Women's day 2017 was organized by the Prison Welfare Organization of Dumbara - Bogambara and the Human Rights Office Kandy and the event was held on the 08th March 2017 at the Dumbara - Bogambara Kandy female prison hall. The chief guest and the speaker of the day was Dr. Thanuja Herath Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology from the Peradeniya Dental Faculty. Dr. Thanuja addressing the gathering illustrated the challenges of women in Sri Lanka

In view making a joint submission for the 03rd Cycle of the Universal Periodical Review (UPR) on Sri Lanka scheduled to take place in November 2017 during the 28th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, a special meeting took place on the 01st & 02nd February 2017 at Madhu Retreat House in Mannar with the participation of Human Rights activists, Priests & Religious. This was followed by the RPHR meeting on the 03rd & 04th February with the theme “Together, Let us protect our Rights”.

Human Rights Salutation 2016, was held at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy on the 11th December 2016 with the theme “Stand up for someone's rights today” around 500 participants including religious leaders of all faiths joined the occasion. The event was organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy, Sri Lanka to salute 03 prominent Human Rights Activists and award the winners of school and Religious Schools Art and Essay competition held in view of the Human Rights Day 2016.

39 Priests and Religious joined the Human Rights workshop in Fatima Retreat House, Lewella – Kandy Sri Lanka from the 25th – 28th July 2016 with the theme of “Reconciliation among us and Communities”.
The workshop had two phases: the first was for the members who attended the workshop in 2015
organized by Dr. Shirley Wijesinghe and Professor Brewer from Ireland and the second phase was for the members of RPHR.
27th and 28th July was devoted more for a discussion of the Proposals for a New Constitution for Sri Lanka while the last part of the discussion was focused for an evaluation and future direction of the RPHR.

With the theme " Prosecute the Torture Perpetrators " a signature campaign was launched by the Human Rights Office - Kandy of Sri Lanka to request the Attorney General to prosecute the Torture Perpetrators under the Torture Act no 22 of 1994, as for the past 08 years, Torture cases were not filed under this Act as Attorney General Department was directly under the President.

There are several cases of Torture filed under fundamental rights in the Supreme Court but not under the Torture Act. The cases that are now in High Courts under this Act were filed in early 2000. The Torture continues systematically almost every day in police stations. Even now large number of cases are being reported but the Attorney General has failed to prosecute the perpetrators under the Torture Act. The special investigation unit of the police that investigated cases of torture was also dismantled during the previous regime.

29 Priests and Religious joined the Human Rights workshop in Padaththarippu Retreat House Jaffna Sri Lanka from the 01st - 04th February 2016 with the theme of “Reconciliation among us and Communities” with 02 exposures held in two different locations: Mulaithivu and Kilinochchi on the 01st February. Prior to the workshop, there were 02 exposures for the participants of the workshop.

The International day of the disappeared was commemorated in Kandy by the Human Rights Office on the 05th of September 2015 at the Sri Pushpadana hall with around 225 participants. The parents and the family members both from north and south participated to remember their loved ones who were made to disappear during the civil war and also during the JVP insurrections in 89/90. Families from Nachchikuda and Mulankavil represented the disappeared families of the Northern Province.

A workshop for 30 Human Rights activists of 05 different organizations were held at Lewella Kandy from the 16th November - 18th November 2015.The workshop was facilitated by Mr. Basil Fernando and Sanjeewa Weerawickrama of the Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong. The focus of the workshop was on "Law enforcement and the improvement of Human Rights" Group discussions were centered around

Human Rights Office extended a caring relationship with the survivor groups of the North since the end of the war. For the last few years concentration was more towards the women headed families (Widows). While working with the women headed families, we moved towards the youth in these villages to provide opportunities for young people to develop the competencies they need to become successful contributing members of their communities.

The widows of Kilinochchi district, who lost their husbands during the war and have being internally displaced, have not had an opportunity to find closure after their husbands’ disappearance. To this end, a three day workshop on “Healing through Remembering” was held with 40 women-headed widows of Valaippadu and Parappankandal in Kilinochchi district in the North of Sri Lanka.

In connection with the “Prison week” the Human Rights office in Kandy, Sri Lanka organized a debate on the 08th September 2016, for the students from the University of Peradeniya, Law Department. Debates were not uncommon to these law students, but this time, they were speaking at a high security institution - Prison and their opponents were none other than the sentenced prisoners at Bogambara- Dumbara Prison

The topic of debate was “how effective is the process of justice (police, courts and prison) in Sri Lanka”. The law students who are being trained to defend and uphold the justice system of the country and the prisoners who at times have become victims of this system argued the pros and cons of its everyday realities.

The International Human Rights Day 2015 was celebrated by the Human Rights Office in Kandy on the 12th December 2015 at the Sri Pushpadana Halll Kandy with the theme of “Independent and credible investigations to ensure the Rights of the victims”. The German Ambassador to Sri Lanka Dr. Jurgan Morhard being the chief guest and Rt. Rev. Dr. Cletus Perera the Bishop of Ratnapura and Davide Vignati the first secretary of Swiss Embassy, Rev. Fr. Bala Rajendran the Apostolic Vicar being the guests of Honor. There were more than 450 participants, survivors, Human Rights activists, members of the support group and civil society members including lawyers & professionals

The International Women's Day 2015 was celebrated by the Human Rights Office in Kandy in collaboration with the Prison Welfare Union at the Bogambara- Dumbara prison on the 08th March 2015 with 110 female remand and sentenced prisoners.
It was a very meaningful celebration with an exhibition & sale of the creative items made by the female prisoners.
The day’s events included inputs by Psychiatric Dr. Damith Hettiarachchi, Mrs. Surangika Ranaweera a lawyer of the HRO and by the director Fr. Nandana Manatunga who made a visual presentation and elaborated on the theme “Empowering Women –Empowering Humanity” followed by dances and a drama by the female prisoners

Human Rights Salutation 2015 was held at the Pushpadana hall in Kandy with the theme “Let the dignity of ordinary persons be recognized before the Law", around 500 participants joined the occasion. The event was organized by the Human Rights office in Kandy to salute 03 prominent Human Rights activists and award the winners of school & Sunday school Art and essay competitions held in view of the Human Rights Day 2014.

A Human Rights exhibition was held on the 20th & 21st June 2015 at St. Anthony's National Shrine at Wahacotte, Sri Lanka in the Central Province during its annual feast in view of the International day in Support of the Victims of Torture with the theme "Justice & Dignity for all". The exhibition depicted the teachings of the Pastoral Letter issued by the Sri Lankan Bishops Conference on the 08th December 2013 and posters on Human Rights. More than 3500 people comprised of Catholics, Hindus & Buddhists, adults and children; from all over the country visited the exhibition, during the 02 days.

The focus of the 2014 Christmas was the “PTA detainees” in remand Prison. A special Christmas programme was held on the 19th December 2014 at the Bogambara - Dumbara prison from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. with Carols, dances and giving away gifts by the Santa Claus to all the prisoners. HRO focused its Christmas message on the prisoners who are in detention for long years without trials.

The Christmas day mass at the Dumbara prison was celebrated by Bishop Vianney Fernando. After mass the Bishop had a cordial meeting with the Superintendent of the Prison Mr. Senarath Bandara Senanayake at his office. The HRO also organized the political prisoners - PTA detainees ,to meet with the Bishop and the prisoners thanked the Bishop for his interventions through the HRO to bring them to trial. They requested the Bishop to appeal to the Holy Father during his visit to Sri Lanka to request the President to grant a general amnesty. The Bishop offered hope to the young political prisoners and the SP explained the issue with over crowdedness in the prison caused by the undue delay in trials.

World Mental Health Day (10 October) is a day declared for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 with the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in more than 150 countries. Human Rights Office in Kandy working with different kinds of survivor groups for their legal and psychological needs, believe, that mental health is a human right. We celebrated it with the above mentioned group of people on world mental health day.

A group of six secondary survivors, three Sinhalese and three Tamils found their way out to Valaipadu a village of 3 1/2 k.m. in the Kilinochchi District for Trauma Support: a relationship for connection and mutual understanding with the women headed families’ (widows ) of the village. Valaipadu is a fishing village. Its name derived from “fishing in a big scale by laying nets”. There are 300 catholic families in the village. In the resettlement process the villagers are back in their original village. As far as the historical evidence shows there had been 15 families originally occupied, having their livelihood based on fishing.

The International Human Rights Day 2014 was celebrated by the Human Rights Office Kandy Sri Lanka on the 10th December at the Fatima Retreat house in Lewella Kandy with around 150 survivors of Rape, Torture, families of the disappeared and of Prisoners, support group members and civil society members.

Fr. Nandana Manatunga, the director of the Human Rights office introducing the day lamented on the present judicial system that is gradually collapsing with political interference. He spoke about the shrinking democratic space due to the total control of the executive presidency in all areas of the Judiciary leading to the collapse of the Rule of Law.

Together with United Religious Initiative (URI) headed by Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe, the former Anglican bishop of Kurunegala, the Human Rights Office, Kandy organized a campaign to ensure Free & Fair presidential elections. Several meetings were held to discuss and search ways and means to educate the political party leaders and voters to curb pre-election and post- election violence.

30th August, the International day for the disappeared was commemorated by the Parents and the Families of the disappeared at the Human Rights Office in Kandy with an inter-religious ceremony.

The last four decades of political violence in Sri Lanka have witnessed the enforced disappearance of tens of thousands of Sri Lankans. Disappearance contextualized as a counter-insurgency strategy, in the context of armed confrontation. However the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009 did not bring about an end to the phenomenon. The motive behind disappearances served as an integral part of a system of state power and patronage to enable the political elite to immobilize all political opposition.

Forty two Priests and Religious joined the Human Rights workshop in Lewella Retreat House in Kandy Sri Lanka from the 07th to the 10th July 2014, with the theme of “Promoting a Culture and Reconciliation” to study the pastoral letter of the Catholic Bishops Conference Sri Lanka that was released on the 08th December 2013.

The participants were from different dioceses and religious congregations in the country. Very. Rev. Fr. Rohan Silva, the provincial of the OMI congregation facilitated the sessions on the pastoral letter. The participants studied the pastoral letter in depth and made their comments; this was followed by group discussions and participants came out with practical suggestions to implement the guidelines given in the Pastoral letter. It was noted that the 2013 pastoral letter has still not being studied by the priests and religious and therefore the faithful in parishes have not even heard. Therefore the participants cautioned that what happened to 1984 pastoral letter would eventually happen to 2013 pastoral letter There are positives and as well as negatives in the PL. The theological and biblical section was explained .

The Human Rights Office Kandy uses the Ceremonial Delivery of Testimonies as a therapeutic tool with the torture survivors and their family members with its initiation to Sri Lanka from 2008. The use of the therapeutic tool is adapted to our culture, validated with the positive and clinical outcome confirms the reliability of the instrument. Testimony Therapy is based on the lived experience of the testimony of former political prisoners in Chile. It has been developed and used in treatment of traumatized victims of war and other organized violence in different countries for a variety of traumatized population.

It was a significant event for a big number of audiences to witness the Testimony Therapy of Shiva Kumar and his family members on 26th June 2014, the International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture. Shiva Kumar Family was welcomed to the ceremony by our survivor families’ torture.

In the treatment protocol the priority goes to the traumatizing experiences and events of the stories of the victims. The stories of the testimony were presented in a creative manner .

A People's tribunal was organized by the Human Rights office in Kandy at the Pushpadana hall, to commemorate the 2014 international day in support of the survivors of Torture and campaign to Join hands to say "NO" to Torture, the mother of all Human Rights violations.

There were more than 200 participants including Torture victims and their families, families of the disappeared and of the prisoners and members of the civil society.
he panel comprised of 07 members, including a police officer made their comments following the testimonies of the Torture survivors. Several people also made their comments and even some Torture victims rose up from the audience to make their voices heard.

At the outset "What is Torture" was visually explained and further it was enumerated by Fr. Nandana Manatunga, welcoming the participants and presenting the concept of People's tribunal introduced the panel.

A ceremonial delivery of the testimonies of Torture victim S. Shivakumar, his wife Nirosha and the two daughters, who witnessed the torture, was held after lunch at the same venue concluding the days programme. All those who gathered were horrified & bewildered with the testimonies of the victims and vouched to campaign against Torture the mother of all Human Rights violations.

The survivors of Torture, Rape, families of the disappeared and the families of the prisoners celebrated the Sinhala & Hindu New Year at the Fatima Retreat house premises recently. There were more than 300 participants for this annual event.

The HRO staff team worked very hard on the previous day and in the morning to ensure the smooth operation of the day. Getting out of the usual rhythm, this year the participants were divided in to 20 groups and each and every participant was given an opportunity to share their story in the group. Following the group activity, the members of each group were called upon to introduce each other and the issues that they shared. Soon they discovered the common uniting factor that they all seek Justice being survivors of some sort of grave Human Right violation.

Several families of the political prisoners remand prisoners and detained prisoners from different part of the country came as participants of this annual event with their children. The released prisoners and their families too joined the event with Torture, Rape victims and the families of the disappeared. They had so much to share with one .