Basil Fernando

Basil Fernando is a leading global human rights activist, jurist, author and poet. He is the recipient of the 2014 Right Livelihood Award, Kwangju Prize for Human Rights, is the author of Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has been a Senior Ashoka Fellow. Following a career as human rights, labour and criminal lawyer with the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, Fernando was inspired by the life and work of Indian statesman Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Danish philosopher N.F.S. Grundtvig to embark upon a lifelong crusade to defend human rights. With the outbreak of the Sri Lankan civil war, Fernando was further thrust into a pivotal role in addressing judicial breakdown across Asia.

He has served as Appeals Counsel for Vietnamese refugees in Hong Kong, which was sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and as Senior Human Rights Officer-In Charge of the Investigation Unit under the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). He was also Officer in Charge and Chief of the Legal Assistance at the Cambodia Office of the UN Center for Human Rights. He is currently Director of Policy and Programme Development at the Asian Human Rights Commission in Hong Kong, and Executive Director of Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC).