In May 2009, Sri Lanka's government declared victory in its 26-year armed conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

It was one of the world's bloodiest and longest-running civil wars, leaving thousands of people dead and displacing hundreds of thousands from their communities.

In addition to the physical consequences, the conflict has also had a profound psychological effect on Sri Lankans, according to Chandra Ellawala, Secretary of the country’s Human Rights Commission.

Changing a deeply-rooted culture of conflict is, she says, a priority for the organisation in this post-war period.

“We think it is very important to work with army personnel and police, in particular, to change the mentality of officers in these institutions,” says Mrs Ellawala. “It is crucial that they understand human rights and also respect them in practice.”

She says the Commission plans to undertake a major training program for army personnel and police officers in charge and will also boost its monitoring of police stations and other detention facilities.

Addressing torture and ill-treatment of people in places of detention is a priority issue for the institution, which currently receives a large number of complaints on administrative issues.

“We have a 24-hour hotline that people can call if they have concerns about someone who’s been taken into custody, says Mrs Ellawala.

“The Commission has the mandate to undertake visits to detention centres and assess the treatment of detainees and the conditions. When the Presidential candidate was recently taken into custody and detained, our people have visited and monitored the conditions there.”

She says another key focus of the Commission in the coming year will be to monitor the care and protection of vulnerable children and young people living in government-run institutions.

Monitoring the rights of migrant workers will also be a growing area of work.

In addition, Mrs Ellawala says the Commission may establish ‘mobile offices’ to provide regular visits to remote parts of the country, to conduct outreach programs, answer inquiries and receive complaints.

Changes

In late 2007, the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC) downgraded the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka from ‘A status’ to ‘B status’.

Mrs Ellawala, who joined the Commission in 2008, says the organisation has sought to make positive changes to address the concerns raised by the ICC at that time.

She says the Commission has recently published a number of annual reports for previous years, with English-language versions of the 2008 and 2009 annual reports expected to be available later this year.

Mrs Ellawala also acknowledges that the Commission needed to strengthen its relationship with civil society and non-governmental organisations.

“Now we are working on delivering some programs together and we hold meetings at least quarterly with civil society and NGO groups,” she says.

“Civil society plays a very vital role and it is crucial that we have a process to exchange views with them and identify areas where we can work together further. They also inform us of human rights cases and areas for investigation, and we follow-up on these.”

Satisfying

Leaving a position as a corporate lawyer to take over management of the Commission was a significant change in direction for Mrs Ellawala.

“When you work as a corporate lawyer you generally only represent the interests of one sector,” she says. “However, this role provides an opportunity to work on behalf of the rights of all people in the country.”

Managing an organisation of 208 staff members, spread across ten offices, is also a constant challenge.

“You need to ensure that staff and managers receive training and support so they can do their work effectively, especially in areas such as dealing with complaints,” says Mrs Ellawala.

“You are always interacting with many people, you are listening to people and, when complaints are conciliated, you see people getting a remedy. That makes it very satisfying work.”