Do not wait: Premachandran calls for immediate DNA testing of Chemmani remains

The Democratic Tamil National Alliance media spokesperson Suresh Premachandran has called on the Sri Lankan government to begin investigations into the skeletal remains recovered from the Chemmani mass grave immediately, in accordance with international standards and with the assistance of international organisations.

Addressing the media, Premachandran noted that more than 500 sets of skeletal remains had been exhumed and that excavation had continued for over 100 days. Despite that progress, he questioned whether the government had taken any meaningful steps towards the next phase of the investigation, saying no such measures had been initiated.

DNA testing of the recovered remains has not yet been conducted, he said. By obtaining DNA samples from the families of those who disappeared during the conflict, it would be possible to determine whether the remains belong to the disappeared.

Premachandran acknowledged that Sri Lanka lacks the technological capacity and forensic expertise to carry out comprehensive DNA examinations, and argued that the investigation should therefore be entrusted to international institutions with the necessary scientific and forensic proficiency. All investigations and forensic examinations, he said, should be conducted in accordance with internationally accepted legal and investigative standards.

He urged civil society organisations, human rights groups, bodies committed to democratic principles and international human rights organisations to recognise that the likelihood of completing so complex an investigation solely within Sri Lanka is extremely limited.

The government should not delay the investigative process until all remaining skeletal remains are recovered, he added. Investigations into those already exhumed should begin immediately.

His intervention comes as the excavation, now past its 102nd day, has identified 524 sets of human remains, of which 513 have been fully exhumed, making Chemmani the largest mass grave uncovered on the island. Legal experts at the site have stressed that exhumation is only the first stage, with further forensic examination required to determine age, sex and possible cause of death before DNA analysis and identification can proceed.

The call for international involvement has been made repeatedly. Families of the disappeared told a visiting European Union delegation last month that they would never accept domestic mechanisms, demanding an international investigation and the referral of Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court. The International Commission of Jurists has urged that the excavation comply with the Minnesota Protocol and be placed under sustained international oversight, warning that Sri Lanka lacks a specialised legal and institutional framework for investigating mass graves and that previous excavations at Chemmani, Mannar and elsewhere failed to deliver identifications or prosecutions.

In the British parliament, the MP Uma Kumaran, since appointed a Foreign Office minister, asked whether the department would work with Bournemouth University on the Bournemouth Protocol, which sets out legal principles for mass grave protection and the chain of custody in evidence collection, and whether it would support DNA identification involving affected families.

At a hearing last month, Sri Lankas Criminal Investigation Department told the Jaffna Magistrates Court that it had not yet been established whether a crime had taken place at the site, as it sought permission to conduct scientific testing to determine the age of the remains. Decisions on further examinations are expected at a hearing on 14 October, two months after the current excavation phase is due to conclude.