Message of the Chairman It is indeed a pleasure as well as my responsibility being the Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka which is the National Human Rights Institution incorporated and designed for the protection and promotion of human rights in Sri Lanka, to deliver a message for the Annual Report 2014. The present Commission was appointed in the year 2014 for the 2nd term on the recommendations made by the Parliamentary Council upon the adoption of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has a broad mandate to protect and promote Human Rights to ensure the rights of all with a view to achieving a better Human Rights Culture in Sri Lanka. The Annual Report for the year 2014 sets out the activities undertaken by the Commission during the year 2014. I take this opportunity to extend my grateful thanks to the Commonwealth Secretariat, UN agencies, Civil Society Organizations, State Agencies and the general public who have extended their valuable support to the Human Rights Commission. Finally I would be failing my duty if I do not place on record my grateful appreciation to the members of the Human Rights Commission and staff of the Human Rights Commission who always extended their fullest cooperation. I am confident that all the aforesaid parties would continue to extend their fullest support to the Human Rights Commission in its endeavor to achieve the aspirations of the Commission. It is with a deep sense of regret that I have to refer to the untimely death of Miss Thusitha Samarasekera who held the office of Director, Monitoring & Review who met with a motor accident on her way back after participating in the election monitoring programme in the UVA Province. vi