HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION OF SRI LANKA, Annual Report 2020
therefore requires additional time to compile. Additionally, he also informed
that the injured prisoners were treated by multiple doctors while others
were transferred to the Welikada prison hospital and as such only the
reports of prisoners treated at Ragama Teaching Hospital could be produced
after consulting with individual doctors who treated the patients. This
inquiry was ongoing at the end of 2020.
2.1.2. Outreach programmes
Despite restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Commission successfully conducted a variety of outreach programmes in
order to promote human rights awareness and educate the public on human
rights issues. Outreach programmes included in-person and virtual public
lectures, workshops, awareness campaigns and discussions.
Virtual events to mark commemorative days in 2020
The International Day in Support of Victims of Torture in 2020 was
important for the Commission as it marked the first time the HRCSL hosted
a virtual event necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic related health
guidelines. Two webinars in Sinhala and Tamil languages were held on 26
June 2020 on the theme “Torture and other Forms of Societal Violence in Sri
Lanka: Parts of One Spectrum?” This theme was chosen in light of the
understanding that often, various forms of social violence have common
roots and that the HRCSL must work on all fronts to address endemic
violence in society in view of the linkages between different types.
A message displayed on the Facebook page on equal
access to education during the COVID-19 pandemic
25
In a pioneering move for the
Commission, the International
Human Rights Day 2020 was
marked with the launch of a
digital awareness campaign.
Thematically focused on the
COVID-19 pandemic, the
campaign was designed to
draw attention to the
centrality of human rights in
post
pandemic
recovery