Forensic teams excavating a mass grave in northern Sri Lanka have recovered 582 human skeletons, including those of infants and young children, in one of the country’s largest such excavations since the end of its 26-year civil war.
The remains were recovered at Chemmani, near Jaffna, along with personal belongings including plastic milk bottles, children’s toys, small school bags, shoes and bangles.
Forensic experts said several skeletons showed signs consistent with execution. One was found with both hands tightly bound against the chest.
The identities of those whose remains have been recovered are not yet known. Forensic specialists will have to examine the remains and compare DNA samples with those of surviving relatives before victims can be identified. It is also unclear whether any of the 582 people are among those officially listed as missing.
Chemmani has long been associated with allegations of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during Sri Lanka’s civil war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, fought for an independent Tamil homeland in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. Both the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE have faced allegations of serious human rights violations, including abductions, killings, rape and other abuses.
The war began in 1983 and ended in May 2009, with an estimated 100,000 people killed and tens of thousands reported missing, most of them from the ethnic Tamil minority.
Human rights organisations and families of the disappeared have renewed calls for an international investigation, arguing that previous mass grave investigations failed to identify victims or establish accountability.
Sri Lanka’s government has maintained that the Chemmani investigation is independent and should be handled by domestic institutions. Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara urged people not to judge state institutions solely by their past records, but by their work under the current government.