Excavation at Chemmani mass grave paused over funding – report

Excavation at the Chemmani mass grave in Sri Lanka’s northern province has been suspended after 45 days due to insufficient funding from the Justice Ministry, according to lawyers involved. 

The site, discovered during routine development in February, has yielded 240 skeletal remains so far, with operations halting at noon on Saturday, Fresh allocations are expected within two weeks to resume the judicially supervised work, which began on May 15 following a court order.

Findings include 14 piles of bones and poignant items such as infant feeding bottles, a doll, toys, children’s bags, and shoes, raising concerns about civilian victims. 

The judicial medical officer has requested an eight-week extension from the Jaffna magistrate, with an expenditure estimate for two additional months to be submitted at the September 18 hearing.

Chemmani gained notoriety in 1998 when 15 skeletons were unearthed amid the height of the civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), sparking allegations of extrajudicial killings. 

The main Tamil party, Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), described the site as evidence of “war crimes and a genocidal campaign against Tamils” during the conflict, which ended in 2009 after three decades.

Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Commission recently stated there is a “reasonable likelihood” of unlawful burials resulting from extrajudicial killings. 

This pause underscores ongoing challenges in addressing wartime atrocities, as international calls for accountability persist amid Sri Lanka’s efforts to reconcile its fractured ethnic history.

Source: The Indian Witness
--Agencies