• Justice Min.-stakeholder talks underway but no help sought from foreign country yet to examine the skeletal remains 

The Government stated that although it needs international technical assistance to examine the skeletal remains uncovered at the Chemmani mass grave, it has not yet sought help from any country.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, National Integration Deputy Minister Muneer Mulaffar said: “There is a need to seek international technical assistance to examine the skeletal remains. The Ministry of Justice and National Integration is currently discussing this with the relevant parties. However, we have not yet made any specific request from any country.”

Following the discovery of over 100 skeletal remains at the Chemmani mass grave site, several local and international parties such as the Thamil Makkal Thesiya Kuttani and the International Commission of Jurists called for the international oversight of the excavations, describing a victim-centred process as an important first step towards truth and accountability.

Speaking to The Daily Morning on an earlier occasion, Mulaffar said that although it may need to seek technical assistance from international experts to examine the skeletal remains discovered at mass graves, there will be no need for any other form of international intervention, as the Government fully supports the investigation processes.

The Chemmani mass grave, first unearthed in the late 1990s, is one of several sites in Sri Lanka linked to alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during the civil conflict. The recent excavations, which revealed over 100 skeletal remains, have once again drawn attention to the country’s unresolved mass grave cases. 

Similar discoveries have been made in Mannar, Matale, and Sathurukondan, though few investigations have led to prosecutions.