A signature campaign was launched in Jaffna this week demanding international justice for the Chemmani mass graves and other sites across the North-East, as well as accountability for the genocide committed against the Tamil people.
The initiative, organised by the Youth Voice for Change movement, took place in Maruthanarmadam and drew the participation of local traders, vendors and members of the public. Campaigners stressed that more than two decades after the discovery of the Chemmani graves — where over 240 skeletal remains have been unearthed, including those of children — Colombo has failed to carry out credible investigations or allow international involvement.
Despite repeated calls from victims’ families, civil society groups and UN bodies for independent investigations, successive Sri Lankan governments have refused international assistance in exhumations or prosecutions. The refusal has come even as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk recently acknowledged Chemmani as a key emblematic case requiring justice.
The Chemmani site in Jaffna was first exposed in 1998 when a Sri Lankan soldier on trial for rape and murder revealed that he and other troops had buried hundreds of bodies there. Since then, excavations have intermittently uncovered remains bearing signs of torture and execution, but accountability has never followed.
