Chemmani mass grave – 90 bodies identified, so far
COLOMBO – The bodies of at least 90 people, including children, have been identified at the Chemmani mass grave to date, as excavations continue under Sri Lankan court supervision.
On Friday (25), officials confirmed the discovery of two additional sets of skeletal remains from two graves, along with the complete excavation of five skeletal units. This brings the total number of skeletons identified in the past five days to 25, of which 16 have been fully excavated.
Amongst the remains found this week include a child’s milk feeding bottle, as well as the bodies of several children.
The site is currently undergoing forensic excavation following court authorization. The graves have been designated ‘Forensic Excavation Site No. 01’ and ‘Forensic Excavation Site No. 02’, where the second phase of excavation has been ongoing for 20 days.
Excavation work has taken place over 29 separate days, during which 81 skeletal units have been completely exhumed, and 90 in total have been identified.
In preparation for further work, clearing operations were carried out on Friday in surrounding areas where additional graves are suspected. Excavations in these newly prepared zones are expected to proceed in the coming days.
The Chemmani mass graves have long been tied to allegations of extrajudicial killings carried out by the Sri Lankan military, particularly in the 1990s following the army’s occupation of the Jaffna peninsula. Survivors, families of the disappeared, and human rights organizations have repeatedly called for independent investigations into these graves, many of which are believed to contain the remains of Tamils who were abducted, detained, or summarily executed.
-TG
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