Two human skeletons lie on uneven ground, one arm wrapping around the other’s head, as if trying to shield them from danger. They are labeled only with the numbers 177 and 178, with no names or information about the individuals.
They are part of over 240 skeletal remains, including children and infants, found in a mass grave in Chemmani, in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka.
At the entrance stands a sign: “This place is a crime scene no entry” – the site is protected as a crime scene.
“One day the truth will come.”
– V. S. Niranjanan
Shades of War and the Quest for Accountability
In the heart of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, blood and tragedy have fused with a past that is resurfacing from the ground.
The period from 1983 to 2009 was marked by an internal conflict between the Sri Lankan army and LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam). The war divided the country along ethnic lines, causing the deaths of tens of thousands and the disappearance of thousands more.
More than fifteen years after the fighting ended – and the families of the victims continue to strive for justice and accountability for the disappeared and the deceased.
“There is a reasonable likelihood that the burials were illegal and carried out as extrajudicial killings.”
– Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission
The overall picture of the excavations points to widespread human rights abuses during the conflict: many graves have been found in the northern and eastern regions, where the Tamil community lived, which suffered the greatest losses over decades of war.
Chemmani drew worldwide attention as early as 1998, when a former Sri Lankan soldier admitted that hundreds of Tamils were buried there after the army took control of Jaffna.
Over the years of investigations, the remains of hundreds of people have been found, including infants and everyday items beside them – a baby bottle, a blue school bag, bracelets and fragments of fabric; most bodies were found without clothing and buried chaotically in shallow graves.
Human rights and independent organizations’ assessments emphasize the existence of abuses during the conflict, though official conclusions and avenues for accountability remain the subject of debate and political effort.
“Today Sri Lanka faces an opportunity to break with the past.”
– Volker Türk
The push for international involvement in the investigations heightened calls for transparency and accountability, but the government emphasizes the need to consider the cases through internal mechanisms. Mothers and widows continue to demand answers and justice for their loved ones.
“Where are our children?”
– Protesters
The memory of the dead leaves a deep mark on the nation: investigations will continue, support for the families of the disappeared carries hope for accountability, and international calls for transparency and the functioning of government structures remain part of public discourse in Sri Lanka.