War-affected Tamil mothers in all five districts of Northern Sri Lanka have opposed the closure of the island nation’s latest found mass grave in the coastal district of Mullaitivu which bore the brunt of the brutality during the final phase of the war which came to a bloody end in May 2009.
The untiring mothers-led protest into its 8th year, seeking justice for alleged war crimes and accountability for victims of enforced disappearances by the state, have strongly opposed the closing down of the mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai based on a court order. The grieving Tamil mothers seek to know the truth behind the mass grave.
A massive protest was staged by the Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances (ARED) in the North and East Provinces, an activist group created to search for the tens of thousands of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, that suspect the closure as a cover up. The excavations were halted on the 15th of July 2024.
During the exhumation of the accidentally found mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai, 52 skeletons were recovered in an excavation that lasted little over a year.
Representatives of the ARED along with local Tamil representatives gathered at the site of the mass grave excavation and staged a protest on 20 August and demanded in unison an international inquiry into all the mass graves found in Sri Lanka’s North and East.
At the protest, Mariasuresh Eswary, President of the ARED in Mullaitivu recalled justice has not been rendered in respect of the four mass graves found in the North and emphasized accountability should be ensured and justice rendered for those buried in the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave irrespective of whose remains were found there.
“Four mass graves similar to Kokkuthoduvai were found. Despite evidence being available regarding all four, nothing has happened to date. We can’t accept a ruling given in haste. Justice should be rendered and accountability ensured irrespective of whether they are our relatives or LTTE cadres. Their lives are invaluable”.
She also accused the Office for the Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka of intimidating them into accepting the death certificates for those who have disappeared for long rejecting their demand for justice and accountability. She further questioned the continuing international support to OMP.
“Our question is how will the OMP that is acting against those who are victims of enforced disappearances render justice and also we don’t know why the international community is recognizing and respecting them”.
The head of the OMP, Attorney Mahesh Katulanda had earlier told local journalists they look forward to carry out investigations to find whether the exhumed body parts belong to those who were victims of enforced disappearances.
At the protest near the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, participants raised slogans demanding an international inquiry into the findings at the mass graves in the North. Tamil politicians joined the mothers who were carrying placards demanding an international inquiry and accountability.
“We need an international inquiry into the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, Mannar mass grave, Thiruketheeswaram mass grave, and the Jaffna mass grave -International inquiry is needed for all of these mass graves. The military should be held accountable”.
Tamil mothers were joined by senior Tamil MP from Jaffna and General Secretary of the Tamil People’s National Front (TNPF) Selvarasa Kajendran and Thurairasa Raviharan former member of the Northern Provincial Council along with the public and civil society members.
Participating in the protest, Sivananthan Jenita, President of the ARED in Vavuniya demanded investigations into the skeletons exhumed from the mass graved to determine the period of burial should take the clothing discovered along with the human remains into account.
“Despite so many mass graves being found, the government keeps on saying it is many years old. If even the clothes in this mass grave have not decomposed, then we should think about how long the clothing will remain not being decomposed. Hence, investigations could be done based on the clothes found here. But they are trying to cover up and close the mass grave although pieces of evidence were available”.
Sivananathan Jenita further emphasized strongly that international intervention is needed to find out and identify the persons buried in the mass grave and exhumed subsequently as skeletons.
“DNA testing should be done. None knows who was buried there. In such a situation our question is who was buried there? We can’t say who they could be. So we request the international community to intervene and undertake investigations and find it out. We totally reject any internal mechanism. We demand an international mechanism to ensure accountability for those who disappeared. Even concerning mass graves, international inquiry should be done”.
Speaking to journalists after the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave case was heard at the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court on the 8th of August before Magistrate Dharmalingam Piratheepan, Judicial Medical Officer of Mullaitivu (JMO) said they are looking forward to finding out the sex, age, height, and details of the injuries among others through the forensic investigations.
“Out of the exhumed skeletons, 25 have been sent to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital’s forensic examination department and investigations took place for two days from t02 August this year. The investigations will continue in the coming weeks. The JMO’s comprehensive reports are expected in six months”.
In a report submitted to the court earlier, Prof. Raj Somadeva, the lead forensic archaeologist had concluded that a majority of the skeletons exhumed from the mass grave are that of the female cadres of the LTTE who have been unceremoniously buried between 1994-96. His interim report on the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave to the court was submitted in February 2024.
He was certain that those buried in the mass grave had been shot dead.
Body parts of former LTTE cadres were accidentally found by the staff of the water supplies department at the end of June 2023 while water supply pipelines were laid in Kokkuthoduvai, about 200 meters from the school. Along with body parts, garments worn by those buried were also found.
