Neelan Tiruchelvam

Neelakandan Tiruchelvam, PC (; 31 January 1944 – 29 July 1999) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, academic, human rights activist and politician. He was a Member of Parliament and Director of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies. He advocated for a peaceful resolution to the Sri Lankan Civil War and is considered one of the most influential researchers on constitutional law and constitutional theory in Sri Lanka.

On 29 July 1999, Tiruchelvam was assassinated when an attacker detonated his explosives next to Tiruchelvam's car. The militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was widely blamed for the assassination, which received condemnation from around the world. In 2001 he was posthumously awarded the Law and Society Association first International Prize for "his distinguished scholarship in legal pluralism, human rights, constitutionalism, ethnic conflict, and the capacity of law to contain violence". He has also received posthumous recognition by the Train Foundation's Civil Courage Prize. Provided by Wikipedia