Basil Fernando

බැසිල් ප්‍රනාන්දු) is a Sri Lankan jurist, author, poet, human rights activist, editor of Article 2 and Ethics in Action,[1] and a prolific writer.

He has written extensively on this theme, basing his work on studies on Sri Lanka, Cambodia and several other Asian countries.

[3] This led to the introduction of the folk school concept into human rights work in several Asian projects.

Kuruwilla, a prominent literary critic at the time, wrote to Navasilu 1976, " I feel that among those writing English poetry in Sri Lanka Basil Fernando is unique in many respects.

The idyllic landscape, the nuanced narrative, the resonant image is absent in Basil's poetry.

Using straight and steady masculine linguistic structure in his poems, Basil opts to be a confident narrator of the times he witnesses, and a credible reporter of the cultural roots-spread beneath human relations we are tactfully farming.

He has written poems as critiques of authoritarianism and orthodoxy fighting against the people to maintain the power they celebrate now.

He is a member of the Sri Lanka English Writers Association and a regular contributor to its publication Channels.

As a human rights activist he is particularly engaged in the elimination of police torture in Sri Lanka and several countries in Asia.

He wrote a weekly UPI column from 2007 to 2009 and writes regularly other publications such as the Sri Lanka Guardian.

He designed the redevelopment of the two organisations with the perspective of developing an understanding of human rights enforcement that answers the need of countries in Asia and other 'non-rule of law' contexts.

In his work he emphasises the need to develop ideas around Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and political Rights (ICCPR).

He is a Senior Asoska Fellow and a Sohmen Visitor at the Faculty of Law, of The University of Hong Kong.