Sri Lanka rights body says mass grave likely result of extrajudicial killings

Colombo, Sep 4 (PTI) The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) said there exists a reasonable likelihood that the burials at the Chemmani mass grave in the north were unlawful and a result of extrajudicial killings.

“There is a reasonable likelihood that the burials were unlawful and pursuant to extrajudicial killings,” said HRCSL in a report issued on Wednesday following their visit to the site on August 3 and 4.

Early this year, at Chemmani in Jaffna, during a routine development work, skeletal remains were discovered.

The court in Jaffna declared it a mass grave in July and ordered a legally supervised excavation.

Chemmani in 1998, at the height of the conflict between the LTTE and government troops, came under focus for an alleged mass grave. Some 15 skeletons were discovered then.

The main Tamil party, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), said that the site presents clear evidence of war crimes and “a genocidal campaign against the Tamils”.

Confirming reports that over 200 skeletal remains have been found so far in the excavations, the right body said that over 90 per cent of the human remains found at the site had no form of clothing whatsoever.

HRCSL has observed that the positioning of the skeletal remains was in extreme proximity to one another, and the remains were in a shallow depth.

The HRCSL report added that there remains a gap in capacity and willingness among law enforcement authorities to ensure accountability for the deaths of the persons found at the site.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited Jaffna this week and assured of transparent investigation into the excavation of the mass grave.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, also expressed concern about the issue during his visit to the Chemmani mass grave in June. PTI CORR RD RD RD