HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE KANDY

Album 02
15 Years ; a significant milestone in our journey - The Programme

Following the Eucharistic celebration there was a special programme with the theme “The path to the future”. Hon. Saliya Pieris, the President's counsel was the chief guest and Mr. Basil Fernando, the Director of the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong was the guest of Honor.

At the very outset Hon Saliya Pieris said, that the cornerstone of human rights is “Human Dignity”. Asserting the work done by the Human Rights Office, the President's Counsel Hon. Saliya Peiris said "Thank you very much for protecting the human dignity for fifteen years".

In his keynote address, the President's Counsel Hon. Saliya Peiris pointed out the importance of voicing against torture done by the officials of the government institutions, including police officers. He further questioned the unethical appointment of Acting Inspector General of Police and said it is for the first time in history, that an Inspector General of Police (IGP) who was convicted for violating fundamental rights and who was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay compensation with his private money was appointed IGP.

Further Hon. Saliya Peiris said that the Minister of Public Security in one of his speeches directly criticized the appearance of lawyers on behalf of the aggrieved parties in the proceedings in cases of unlawful arrest made by the police. “Police officers who follow illegal orders of the superiors face the consequences related to such offenses and become the victims and will suffer alone as they will not be helped by the senior officers”.

Hon. Saliya Peiris emphasized that the "Economic crisis was caused by the leaders who created a failed state system. “The failed state system was the result of the defective Justice system."

All the activists who were in solidarity with the Kandy Human Rights Office for the past 15 years along with the victims, creating a common voice for the people calling for the establishment of the Rule of Law in the country were remembered during the ceremony.

"The Kandy Human Rights Office has performed a pioneering mission to achieve Justice for the victims of Torture" Mr. Basil Fernando, the Director of the Asian Legal Resource Center in Hong Kong, commented during his address. "The lessons learned in the course of the 15-year journey should be shared with everyone in the country to create a movement".

The gathering was also addressed by Rt. Rev. Dr. Kumara Ilangasinghe, the Bishop Emeritus of the Anglican Church in Diocese of Kurunegala, Human Rights activist Mr. Ruki Fernando and some of the survivors. During their sharing’s, they appreciated the commitment and the consistency of the director and the staff of the Human Rights Office in assisting and journeying with the victims of Torture, Rape and gender based violence, families of the disappeared, the prisoners and their families and victims of all human rights violations. The work carried out by the Human Right Office for the past 15 years was appreciated by the participants as well.

A survivor who continue her struggle for 23 years, seeking for Justice for a crime committed against her, shared her bitter and happy experiences during the gathering and said, that she restored her dignity and found a new path in life because of the unwavering solidarity, support and accompaniment by the Director, staff, the lawyers and the members of the support group of the Human Rights Office in her long journey.

Rev. Fr. Nandana Manatunga thanked the Bishops, priests, the religious, the lawyers, doctors, educators, lecturers, counselors, artists, the international partners and all those who supported the Human Rights Office during the past 15 years, very specially those who were in solidarity during the most difficult and challenging times. The programme was colored with items such as performing Art and dances.

Album 01
15 Years ; a significant milestone in our journey - Eucharistic Celebration

Protecting the rights of others is our divine duty that we are all called upon to perform - Bishop Valence Mendis

"At the final judgment our creator will ask “I was hungry, naked, hospitalized, was in prison; did you visit me? (Matthew 25:35-40) God is aware of our daily struggle and very specially the struggle of the poor. Protecting the rights of the victims is our divine duty that we are all called upon to perform”. Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis, the Bishop of Kandy stated during his homily, at the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day 2023 and the 15th anniversary of the Human Rights Office.

Further, the Bishop commended the work done by the staff of the Human Rights Office under the leadership of Fr. Nandana Manatunga, the director, for the past 15 years. “The Human Rights Office has journeyed with the victims in their struggle to seek justice when they were vulnerable & voiceless”.

A large number lay faithful including victims, lawyers, support group members, civil society activists, Rev. Fathers and Rev. Sisters joined the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration in praising and thanking God

"Gender Equality : Empower Women and Girls"

International Women's Day 2025 was celebrated with over 120 participants, including family members of the disappeared, prisoners, survivors of gender based violence, torture and human rights violations, as well as members of a support group on the 08 March 2025 at Holy Cross Pre School Hall Padiwatte, Kandy organized by the Human Rights Office, Kandy Sri Lanka.

Adding colour to the lives of women with transformative experience, impacting both our personal style and our overall well-being was highlighted by Mrs. Shashika Senarathne, Attorney at Law as the chief guest. Individual and group exercises were also assigned to the participants and their experiences were shared with the large group.

Fr. Nandana Manatunga the Director of the HRO explained the purpose of gathering women to celebrate the Women’s day with the theme” Gender Equality - Empower women and girls”. He explained that the year 2025 is very special to all of us, for Catholics it is the Jubilee year and for all Sri Lankans it is special with several important events. Elaborating further he stated that for the first time in the history of our country that there are 21 women in the parliament and their voices will be heard in the legislature. “Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful society. Hence let us not only speak about Equality but practice it in our homes, in our working place and also in places of worship”.

With the theme “Campaign to achieve Democratic Goals with Hope” the workshop for the Priests and Religious was held from 10th - 13th February 2025 at Miani Technical Institute in Batticaloa, organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy. The workshop brought together 28 participants from various parts of the country. The participants focused on promoting democratic values and civil society engagement with the newly elected government.

With a short prayer service, the workshop was inaugurated followed by an introduction to the workshop by Fr. Nandana Manatunga the Director of HRO and then the participants introduced themselves together with their present engagements. A scriptural input was given by the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Kurunagala of the Anglican Church, Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe setting the tone for the workshop.

International Day in Support of Survivors of TORTURE was commemorated at the Human Rights Office in Kandy Sri Lanka on the 27th June 2024, organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy with the theme "Let’s build a country where the Rule of Law is established by defeating the system of getting promotions instead of punishment for officials who engaged in TORTURE.”

It was an impactful event with the testimonies of Torture Survivors and panel discussions of the Lawyers, Trauma Counsellors, Coordinator of rehabilitation of Torture victims and their families. Apart from the torture survivors, families of the disappeared, survivors of human rights violations, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, support group members and civil society activists joined the event. Torture survivors highlighted the routine practice of torture which is escalating in the recent past and the Human Rights activists analyzed the holistic approach of the community in supporting survivors to voice against the practice of TORTURE.

On the 21st April 2024, a large number of Priests, Religious, Brothers from the National Seminary and different congregations and lay faithful from the Catholic and other mainline churches along with the survivors and families of victims of the Easter attack from the Central Province marched in silence from the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy to George E De Silva Park with posters and banners. A prayer service to commemorate the victims of the Easter attack of 2019 was then held at the George E De Silva Park. As the procession reached the George E De Silva Park, all those who were gathered and the bystanders had the opportunity to listen to a recording of the Homily delivered by His Emminanance Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith at Kochchikade in the same morning.

DEATH PENALTY: AN IRREVERSIBLE TORTURE WORLD DAY AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY

Justice without Four Years

End Child Labour It's a Crime, Educate them

15 Years of Journey of HRO

"At the final judgment our creator will ask “I was hungry, naked, hospitalized, was in prison; did you visit me? (Matthew 25:35-40) God is aware of our daily struggle and very specially the struggle of the poor. Protecting the rights of the victims is our divine duty that we are all called upon to perform”. Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis, the Bishop of Kandy stated during his homily, at the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy in conjunction with the International Human Rights Day 2023 and the 15th anniversary of the Human Rights Office.

In 2023 two workshops for the Religious and Priests for Human Rights (RPHR) were held in Thalawila and in Kandy with several participants gaining knowledge and experiences.

The first workshop was held St. Anne’s Church, Thalawila Retreat house of Chilaw Diocese from 13th - 16th February 2023 with 37 participants from different parts of the country. The workshop included an exposure, inputs of resource persons, discussions and sharing. The focus of the workshop was on workers’ rights and hence the theme was “Ensure Dignity of Workers and empower the voiceless”.

In Sri Lanka, the Kegalle High Court Judge Hon. Ms. Jayaki de Alwis, sentenced the accused for 16 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000/- on the 26th January 2023 in the rape case of a child. Apart from that, the Judge ordered Rs. 500,000/= as compensation to the victim, if not paid another 05 years of imprisonment.

The Human Rights Salutation 2022 of the Human Rights Office Kandy was held at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy on the 11th December 2022 with the theme “Protect freedom of expressions to uphold democracy". Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis the Bishop of the Central Province was the chief guest and Hon. Ruby Woodside, the political officer of the US embassy to Sri Lanka was the guest of honor.

While Sri Lanka was facing an unprecedented turmoil with the deepening economic crisis triggers raging street demonstrations, when groups of people, mostly young, stand in clusters chanting slogans, singing songs, making speeches, 27 Religious, Priests and HR Activists came together to Fatima Retreat House, Lewella Kandy from the 07th - 09th July 2022 to analyze and discern their mission. It was organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy with the theme “Protecting the Rights of the Voiceless”.

A public protest was organized by the Kandy Human Rights office on the 26th June 2022 in Kandy city in collaboration with families and the victims of Torture, families of the disappeared, the families of the prisoners and the members of the support group along with religious leaders of all faiths to commemorate the International day in support of the Torture victims and campaign against Torture.

The participants had an exposure to the Katugastota - Thekkawatte garbage dumpsite and dolomite mining site at Digana on 15th February. Following the exposure there were discussions in small groups and several recommendations were made by the participants in protecting the environment especially with regard to the disposal of garbage.

The Human Rights Office in Kandy held the International Human Rights Day 2021 at the Good Shepherd Convent Kandy on the 08th January 2022 with the theme “Ensure the Prisoners their Dignity and Rights to Human Conditions". The 2021 Human Rights day event scheduled for the 11th December 2021 was postponed as the Kandy Police ban the event with a court order citing the Section 106 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure Act. While the event was held at the Kandy Convent hall, a few protestors were seen outside the convent premises claiming that the event was “sympathizing with terrorists".

The grinding poverty of tea plantation families has left young girls vulnerable to sexual abuse, rape and trafficking, with a growing number of teens being trafficked as modern slaves. Hundreds of young girls in tea plantation districts fall victim to traffickers every year.

"Justice for Ishalini”
“As the Bishop and Priests in the Catholic Diocese of Kandy (Central Province), we were very saddened and shocked to hear about the death of 16-year-old girl Ishalini, a parishioner of St. Anthony’s Church, Dayagama in our diocese.

20 years journey of Jesudasn Rita

A round table conference was held along with Rita, the survivor, the lawyers, the staff and the members of the support group on the 12th August 2021 at the Human Rights Office to review the long walk of Rita seeking Justice and Redress.

International Women's Day - 2021

Focusing on the theme "Women make change- empower them” the Human Rights Office Kandy prepared a poster that was distributed island wide and organized the International Women's day on the 06th March 2021 at the Parish hall of Fatima Shrine Padiwatte Kandy Sri Lanka along with the women headed families

With COVID 19 health restrictions and guidelines, the workshop of the Religious and Priests for Human Rights (RPHR) was held at Fatima Retreat House, Lewella – Kandy from the 09th - 12th February 2021 with 28 participants from different parts of the country.Usually the February workshop is held outside Kandy, however due to COVID 19 pandemic, the workshop was held at Lewella - Kandy.

2020 Christmas with COVID 19 pandemic health restrictions, the Human Rights Office focused its attention on the victims of Torture, the prisoners and their families, the families of the disappeared and the victims of various Human Rights violations and miscarriage of Justice invariably the poor.

72nd International Human Rights Day 2020 was celebrated at the Human Rights Office Kandy on the 10th December 2020 with limited participants due to health restrictions. "Accept the present realities and include everyone - Human Rights for All” was the theme for Human Rights Day.

Human Rights Award Winners (Laureates) came together for the second time from the on the 25th to 27th September 2020 to Orkwin Resort Nawalapitiya to breathe fresh air and refresh and gather energy while learning more about stress management with the theme “Caring & Sharing”.

"Sulugune" an isolated village surrounded by Knuckles mountains, situated in the Wilgamuwa Divisional Secretariat, in Matale District, Central Province. About 76 families live there, mostly farming. 06 men work in the military. There are about 30 school aged children, 14 children go to the village primary school while others go to a school about 8 km away. Only four had passed the GCE Advance Level so far, and two entered university". The villagers have to walk 05km to get to the main road as there is no transport available.

It was an opportunity for the families of the disappeared to speak about their loved ones who were made to disappear. Further they explained the reason for their campaign; they all wanted to know “THE TRUTH”. What really happened to them.

Priests and Religious from all parts of the country, serving in all major prisons in Sri Lanka : Bogambara - Dumbara in Kandy, Welikada & Magazine in Colombo, Mahara prison at Ragama, Galle & Boossa in Galle, Anuradhapura, Jaffna, Badulla, Wariyapola, Trincomalle, Batticoloa, Kuruvita in Ratnapura and Kegalle came together to learn and share their experiences.

"I have Dignity just like you", focusing on the Dignity of women, the International Women's day was held on the 07th March 2020 at Fatima Shrine Padiwatte Parish hall organized by the Human Rights Office in Kandy along with the women headed families.

The workshop of the Religious and Priests for Human Rights (RPHR) was held at St. John Mary Vianney Retreat House - Buluthota of Ratnapura Diocese from the 03rd to 06th February 2020 with 30 participants present from different parts of the country, even from the dioceses of Mannar and Jaffna despite the distance.

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".

Human Rights Award Winners (Laureates) gathering was held at the Serendip Stone Bungalow (Hotel) in Nattarampotha, Kundasale, Kandy Sri Lanka on the 04th & 05th October 2019.

The Human Rights Office recognized and awarded Human Rights activist for their commitment and contribution made in protecting & promoting Human Rights amidst of numerous challenges. The activists were awarded during the annual Human Rights Award Ceremony since 2008.

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....

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”.