Staff of
Centre for Society and Religion (CSR)
United by purpose — our team of human rights defenders, researchers, community organizers, and field workers dedicated to building an equitable and democratic Sri Lanka.
Co Funder
Rve. Fr. Tissa Balasuriya OMI
Founder & Guiding Spirit (1924 — 2013)
Liberation is not merely an intellectual dialogue; it is the concrete, courageous struggle to restore human dignity, uplift the oppressed, and build communities rooted in truth and unconditional justice.
Fr. Tissa Balasuriya, OMI was an internationally renowned Asian liberation theologian, educator, and tireless advocate for human rights who established the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) in 1971. His groundbreaking vision challenged systemic inequalities and inspired generations of social activists across Sri Lanka and globally.
CSR Research & Investigation Teams
Dedicated empirical research units, constitutional legal analysts, and field investigators upholding justice, public transparency, and fundamental human rights across Sri Lanka.
Easter Sunday Attack Research Team
Maintaining persistent courtroom observation on over 23,270 charges brought under the PTA, declassifying Presidential Commission evidence, and upholding constitutional justice for victims.
- Daily Colombo High Court Trial-at-Bar observation records
- Presidential Commission & Malalgoda Committee report declassifications
- Legal aid, victim restitution and international solidarity documentation
RTI Research & Governance Team
Deploying RTI Act No. 12 of 2016 to investigate public expenditures, dismantle bureaucratic secrecy, and transform statutory rights into potent instruments of grassroots accountability.
- Compliance audits of 71+ state ministries and statutory authorities
- Groundbreaking appellate orders secured before the RTI Commission
- District-level citizen transparency training across all 25 districts
Socio-Economic & Policy Research
Publishing authoritative empirical monographs on plantation worker living wages, predatory microfinance debt traps, food sovereignty, and structural economic reforms in Sri Lanka.
- Empirical estate sector wage studies & labor dignity advocacy
- Microfinance debt justice and rural agrarian livelihood surveys
- Annual socio-economic monographs and national policy whitepapers
Research Directors, Legal Counsel & Field Fellows
Multidisciplinary experts combining legal scholarship, statistical research, and grassroots field inquiry.
Dr. Kalinga Wickremasinghe
Head of Socio-Economic Research
Advocate J. M. Jayasinghe
Lead Legal Counsel & Human Rights Director
Mrs. Dharshini Selvaratnam
Director • Peace & Transitional Justice Research
RTI Research & Evidence Desk
Public Governance & RTI Compliance Analysts