As the excavations of the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna come to a temporary halt until recommencement, scheduled for 21 July, the decision to conduct carbon dating for the site remains in the hands of the courts, according to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP).
Speaking to The Sunday Morning yesterday (12), OMP Executive Director Dr. J. Thatparan said that carbon dating was conducted as one method of determining the timeline of a burial.
“It is one method used, especially when there is no other material to determine the timeline at the site. However, whether or not carbon dating is required for Chemmani should be decided by the courts.”
Sri Lanka does not possess the technical facilities to conduct carbon dating and will therefore have to send samples to the United States or Australia to be tested.
The second phase of the excavation began in the last week of June and continued for 15 days, during which 65 human skeletons were fully exhumed.
Prof. Raj Somadeva, who is conducting the excavation, is to submit an interim progress report for the first 15 days of the second phase by 15 July.
Raising concerns about the ongoing excavations of the Chemmani mass grave in a letter to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) requested the implementation of a set of actions on Friday (11).
In its letter, the party said that the actions were “essential to uphold Sri Lanka’s moral and legal obligations and to chart a credible path towards truth and justice”.
The letter requested the consolidation of the 1999 and 2025 legal cases of Chemmani into a single judicial and forensic inquiry; engagement of international and independent forensic experts; making of DNA profiles, identification results, and interim and final forensic reports publicly accessible; repatriation of remains excavated in 1999; and the enhancement of resource and financial allocations for the process.
When questioned on this, Dr. Thatparan said that the actions called for in the letter would be meaningful for the process of investigations.
Commenting on the involvement of independent and international experts, he said that such collaborative work would provide resources for more involvement.
“We will definitely focus on it as the demand gives us more context on how we can intervene. We need to go for technical support from other parties,” he added.
Dr. Thatparan also noted that there was a dearth of experienced individuals in the country to continue the work of the OMP.
However, he said that the OMP’s future action, based on the actions demanded, would have to be decided collectively by the Chairman and the board as well as the Government.
Attempts to contact Minister of Justice and National Integration Harshana Nanayakkara on conducting carbon dating and for comment on future action in response to the ITAK’s demands proved futile.