[women-rights] Sri Lanka: Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene awarded International Woman of Courage 2007

(Hong Kong, March 12, 2007) The Asian Human Rights Commission
congratulates Kishali Pinto-Jayawardene of Sri Lanka for being recognized
as Sri Lanka's Woman of Courage for the year 2007.

Ms. Pinto-Jayawardene has been given the International Woman of Courage
award by the United States. A communique announcing the award states as
follows:

Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena has been an unstinting advocate for the rule of law
as her legal work and writings on safeguarding the independence of the Sri
Lankan judiciary and key constitutional bodies such as the National Human
Rights Commission and National Police Commission demonstrate.

Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena has publicly called on the government to uphold the
requirement to have the Constitutional Council appoint members of national
commissions. She has been involved in cases involving the right to freedom
of movement, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and equality of persons and
has faced politically motivated threats of "contempt of court" charges.

Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena has written extensively in newspapers, journals, and
books about human rights, media freedom, and the role of women.

"Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena has served as a trailblazer for women in the field
of law, leaving an indelible mark in the areas of legal advocacy,
litigation, and the media," Ambassador Blake said. "She has raised the
profile of human rights protection not only in Sri Lanka, but also in
international law," he added.

Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena is a close associate of the Asian Human Rights
Commission and has worked closely with the commission on many issues
relating to the protection and promotion of human rights in Sri Lanka as
well as in Asia.

"We are happy about the recognition given to the work of Ms.
Pinto-Jayawardena. These are times when it is difficult to stand up for
issues relating to human rights in Sri Lanka," said Mr. Basil Fernando,
the Executive Director of the Asian Human Rights Commission.

He went on to say that, "Many have given up speaking out in public on
vital issues due to subtle and sometimes even very overt pressures. The
undermining of the independence of the judiciary and the absolute power
exercised by the presidential system are two of the most crucial problems
that have stifled the democratic freedoms in Sri Lanka. Only seriously
critical voices can save this situation. Such voices are not many in Sri
Lanka at present. Unfortunately, even the Bar Association of the country
itself has helped the deterioration of standards by their silence in the
midst of serious attacks on the independence of the lawyers. The elite in
the legal field have also remained silent while some lawyers have adopted
the attitude of cynical resignation. Ms. Pinto-Jayawardena's is one of the
voices which have consistently spoken out against this situation and we
hope that the recognition she has gained will encourage others to
discharge their fundamental obligations to their community by the use of
free speech to condemn extremely grave violations of human rights and to
suggest ways out of the crisis."

Press release Asian Human Rights Commission