Mr. Sushil Pyakurel is an expert adviser on political and human rights affairs to the President of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Rt.Hon. Bidhya Devi Bhandari. He is a former Commissioner of National Human Rights Commission; Nepal. He has been actively involved in the promotion and protection of Human Rights and Democracy in Nepal. Mr. Pyakurel is also the winner for the 2010 Gwangju Prize for Human Rights administered by the May 18 Memorial Foundation in Gwangju, Korea. He is the founder of various human rights bodies and organizations in Nepal. Similarly, he also has been honored as an outstanding social activist by “Antarastriya Manch”. He also received a Letter of Appreciation from the Government of Nepal in 1991 for his Outstanding Contribution to the Committee on Investigation of Cases of Disappearances during the Panchayat regime (that had lasted for 30 years until 1990).