 Samarasinghe co-chairs the Permanent Standing Committee on Human Rights in Sri Lanka.Mahinda Samarasinghe completed a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) degree at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.Having joined the Sri Lanka Overseas Service, he served as the First Secretary to the Sri Lanka High Commission in Australia and as Counselor for the Sri Lankan Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva during the 1980s.