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File photograph: A mass grave unearthed in Mullaitivu in 2023.
Sri Lanka’s Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara has controversially dismissed longstanding concerns of further mass graves across the Tamil homeland as mere “hearsay” this week.
“These are all Tamils infants, women, men they have been brutally murdered and buried,” Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi MP Shritharan said during the session, referring to the latest discovery of bodies buried in a mass grave in Chemmani. “Mass graves are littered across the North-East. When will the truth be exposed? Will the mothers who wait for justice be served during their lifetime?”
Responding, Nanayakkara recognised the findings of the Chemmani mass grave, confirming that 19 sets of human remains had been uncovered so far. A second phase of excavation is scheduled for 26 June, following a request for additional funds earlier this month. The site, he added, is currently being protected by the occupying police force.
Regarding the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave discovered on 29 June last year, Nanayakkara reported that human remains had been removed, with forensic reports submitted to the Mullaitivu court. Over LKR 15 million had been allocated for the investigation.
However, when addressing Mandathivu - another site identified by locals and activists as potentially containing mass graves - Nanayakkara dismissed the allegations. “We have no police complaint, no court order - just hearsay. We are only observers on the order of the court. If evidence comes and a police complaint is lodged, we can act. Until then, we cannot act on hearsay.”
His remarks drew criticism from Tamil politicians and victims’ families, who have long pointed to Mandathivu as the site where scores of young Tamil men were abducted and disappeared during a Sri Lankan military offensive in 1990. Shritharan had previously submitted the case to the Office on Missing Persons, asserting that over 100 victims of the Mandaitivu, Allaipiddy and Mankumban disappearances may be buried there.
A report from the North East Secretariat on Human Rights (NESOHR) documents how Sri Lankan soldiers rounded up Tamil civilians, forced them to renounce support for Tamil Eelam, and took them away. Witnesses also claimed to have seen EPDP leader Douglas Devananda, a paramilitary figure and former Sri Lankan cabinet minister, present during the abductions.
Despite the mounting testimonies, Nanayakkara insisted that his ministry would not be guided by “gut reactions” or “hearsay”, stating, “Our policy is justice for all, whether it is in the North or the South. We understand the grieving mothers, but we cannot work on hearsay.”
His comments have reiterated concerns over the current government’s lack of political will to investigate wartime atrocities, and underscored continuing distrust from Tamil families seeking truth and accountability more than 16 years after the end of the armed conflict.
