Mirak Raheem is a practitioner and activist working on issues of human rights and transitional justice, with a specific interest in the search for the disappeared. He is attempting to understand and intervene in mass grave investigations in Sri Lanka resulting from large-scale conflicts. His research interest focuses on the intersection between the legal and institutional framework regarding mass grave investigations and to investigate disappearances and efforts by victims and civil society to search for the disappeared. Currently, he works freelance and is involved in developing awareness-raising material on mass grave investigations aimed at victims and activists. He has worked both in civil society and as part of the Sri Lankan state. Previously, he served as a Commissioner on the Office on Missing Persons, an independent state body mandated to address the issue of disappearances (2018-2021). Prior to that, he served as a member of the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms in 2016, tasked to carry out island-wide consultations to ascertain the public’s views and recommendations on transitional justice.
Key Publications:
Raheem, Mirak. 2024. Understanding Clandestine Gravesite Investigations: Guide for Families of the Missing and Disappeared. Colombo: Law & Society Trust. (This is an illustrated guide for families of the disappeared and activists to understand mass grave investigations in Sri Lanka)
Raheem, Mirak. 2023. “Addressing the Missing Elements of Justice for the Disappeared in Sri Lanka: Investigating Unmarked Gravesites and the Identification of Human Remains.” In Elusive Justice & Emblematic Cases in Sri Lanka, edited by Bhavani Fonseka. Colombo: Centre for Policy Alternatives. (In this article, I examine the legal framework relevant to and the judicial processes to mass grave investigations to highlight the gaps that need to be addressed in order to find justice and truth for the disappeared)
Raheem, Mirak. 2022. “Unidentified bodies: The case for dignity and reform.” The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka), August 21, 2022. https://www.sundaytimes.lk/220821/sunday-times-2/unidentified-bodies-the-case-for-dignity-and-reform-492331.html (This article was a response to the series of unidentified dead bodies being reported in the media and was a call for legal and practical steps to be taken by the State to ensure identification of and dignity for the dead)