Catholic clergy demand international probe into Chemmani mass grave

The Catholic clergy led a peaceful demonstration in Jaffna on Thursday, demanding justice for victims of the Chemmani–Siththuppaththi mass grave and calling for an independent international investigation into the site.

The protest was organised by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Diocese of Jaffna and began at the statue of St. Jude Thaddeus in Ariyalai.

Led by the Commission’s chairman, Rev. Fr. Anthonipillai Augustine, participants marched peacefully to Chemmani Junction, where an appeal addressed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, was read aloud.

In the appeal, Rev. Fr. Augustine said that 454 sets of human remains, including those of children and infants, had reportedly been recovered from the Chemmani excavation site as of 21 July 2026.

He urged the international community to ensure an independent international investigation to establish the truth and secure accountability.

The appeal also called for the excavation, identification and preservation of human remains to be carried out in accordance with the Minnesota Protocol and other recognised international standards.

The Minnesota Protocol sets international standards for investigations into potentially unlawful deaths, including independence, impartiality, effective forensic procedures, preservation of evidence, chain of custody, witness protection and the proper excavation and analysis of human remains.

The appeal further demanded independent DNA analysis, meaningful participation of victims’ families throughout the process, and effective protection for witnesses and human rights defenders.

It also urged United Nations human rights mechanisms to continue monitoring the ongoing excavations and called for a UN human rights presence in Jaffna to help safeguard witnesses.

More than 100 people took part in the demonstration, including the Diocesan Vicar General Rev. Fr. Jebaratnam, Rev. Fr. Paul Jeyantham Pacheck, clergy, religious brothers and sisters, and members of the public.

The demonstration concluded peacefully at Chemmani Junction following the reading of the appeal.

The latest appeal echoes long-standing demands by families of the forcibly disappeared, civil society organisations and human rights groups for an independent international investigation into the Chemmani mass grave.

As excavations have uncovered an increasing number of human remains, including those of children and infants, campaigners have repeatedly called for international oversight, independent forensic expertise and investigations conducted in line with international standards.

Earlier this month, a European Union delegation visited the Chemmani excavation site and met representatives of families of the disappeared, who urged the bloc to recognise the genocide of Tamils and support an international investigation.

During the visit, families rejected further domestic accountability mechanisms, insisting that only an international process could deliver truth and justice for the victims.

The demonstration comes days after excavations at the Chemmani–Siththuppaththi mass grave were temporarily halted.

By the time excavations were suspended, 480 sets of human remains had been identified, of which 479 had been fully exhumed, making Chemmani the largest mass grave uncovered in Sri Lanka.

In the appeal, Rev. Fr. Augustine referred to figures available as of 21 July 2026, when 454 sets of human remains had reportedly been recovered. Excavations continued in the days that followed, with the total later rising to 480 identified sets of human remains.

The site first entered public record in 1998, when Sri Lankan soldier Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse testified that hundreds of Tamils who disappeared during the military’s occupation of Jaffna had been buried at Chemmani. Rajapakse made the disclosure after being convicted over the rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, who was killed after being stopped at a Sri Lankan army checkpoint in Jaffna.

Her mother, brother and a neighbour were also murdered.

Rajapakse later made further allegations about mass graves, torture camps and political cover-ups, implicating senior politicians and the Sri Lankan army.

Despite the scale of the discoveries at Chemmani, the process of identifying the dead has still not begun.

For families of the disappeared, that delay has deepened fears that another domestic process will fail to deliver truth or accountability.

They have repeatedly argued that the Sri Lankan state cannot be trusted to investigate a mass grave linked to its own military and long history of enforced disappearances in the Tamil homeland.

The Diocese of Jaffna’s appeal adds a further institutional voice to calls for international supervision, independent forensic standards, family participation, DNA testing and witness protection.