MANY MORE IHL &; HR OFFICER INSTRUCTORS PASS OUT

The third session of the Advanced Refresher Training Course of the Officer Instructors of the Armed Forces on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights (IHL & HR) culminated on Friday (20) with its awards presentation ceremony held at Hector Kobbakaduwa Agrarian Research & Training Institute (HKARTI) in Colombo.

The ceremony, attended by Deputy High Commissioner, British High Commission, Mr Peter Hill, Chief of Defence Staff and Commander of the Army Lieutenant General L.P. Balagalle, ICRC Head Mr. Thierry Meyrat, Chairman, Institute of Human Rights, University of Colombo, Mr. Jeevan Thiyagarajah and senior officers of the armed forces, was graced by Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar, Hon. Minister of Information and Telecommunication as Chief Guest on the occasion.

Mr. Kadirgamar during his speech delivered before certificates were awarded to these Officer participants hailed the Army for conducting Human Rights training courses for Military/armed forces personnel after extending his sincere thanks to the British High Commission for its generosity towards the conduct of this programme.

Lt General Balagalle underlined the importance of studying and following the Army regulations, designed to cut down on Human Rights violations.

Brigadier Y.S.A de Silva, Director - Human Rights and Humanitarian Law raised the welcome speech after the Army song was played.