International Conference on Human Rights, Citizenship and Democratisation ICHR Colombo 2016

The Centre for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR), University of Colombo organised an International Conference on Human Rights, Citizenship and Democratisation on 27 and 28 August 2016, to celebrate its 25th Anniversary in the field of human rights.

Honourable Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, Minister of Justice and Buddhist Affairs graced the inauguration as the Chief Guest on 26 August 2016 at Sri Lanka Foundation. Mr. Andre Haspels, Director General – Political Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of the Netherlands graced the occasion as the Special Guest. Among the other distinguished guests were Dr. Deepika Udagama, Founding Director of the CSHR and Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka; Senior Professor Lakshman Dissanayake, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo; Senior Professor Ravindra Fernando, Director of the CSHR; keynote speaker Professor Danielle Celermajer of the University of Sydney; Ms. Indira Nanayakkara, Dean, Faculty of Law; and Ms. Wasantha Seneviratne, Deputy Director of the CSHR. The event was well attended by experts on human rights and democratisation both from academia and civil society in Sri Lanka.

The research publication of the Enhancing Human Rights Protection Project and website of the International Human Rights Trainers’ Network were also launched at the inauguration by the Chief Guest. The research on torture prevention in the Military and Law Enforcement agencies was conducted by the Centre for the Study of Human Rights in collaboration with the University of Sydney, Australia and the Kathmandu School of Law, Nepal.

The aim of ICHR Colombo 2016 was to enhance human rights protection and promotion towards entrenching human rights values by providing a platform to academics, civil society, students and participants to share their knowledge, research and related experiences towards creating a human rights culture for all.

The Conference was organised under six thematic areas of contemporary relevance to human rights and democratisation. More than 60 abstracts were received from both local and international scholars. In addition to the 18 abstract presentations, 6 poster presentations took place at the 2 day Conference that was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall. Proceedings of the Research Conference as well as the Research Publication can be collected from the CSHR. Alternatively, the latter can be accessed here: http://ehrpnetwork.org/?page_id=323