“Richard De Zoysa”
Award for Excellence in Independent Journalism
IPS
is honouring Sri Lankan journalist Richard De Zoysa
with this year's IPS Award for Excellence in Independent
Journalism.
Richard De Zoysa
was a multi-faceted personality who left a lasting
impression during a short but prolific creative
span. He was a media critic, announcer, teledrama
and stage actor, author and journalist. He was also
IPS's correspondent in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo.
Richard was 32 when he was abducted and killed by
an armed gang in Sri Lanka on Feb. 19, 1990.
Richard's gruesome
killing spurred his mother, Dr. Manorani Saravanamuttu,
to launch a campaign for justice for the 'disappeared'
on behalf of the mothers who had lost their sons;
wives who had lost their husbands; sisters who had
lost their brothers.
Dr. Saravanamuttu's
relentless campaign attracted international attention
towards the plight of victims who disappeared without
a trace during the 1988-90 terror period. In 1996,
she was awarded the 'Weera Mathru' (heroic mother)
title.
Richard
De Zoysa was awarded posthumously the IPS Award
in 1990. This award was established in 1985 to honour
outstanding accomplishments in international journalism,
promoting democracy and human rights.
