• Says overseas expertise/tech. needed to complete probe
• HRCSL finds likelihood of extrajudicial killings; regular cops involvement prejudicial
• Points to weaknesses in timely provision of adequate funds, 
• Says CID intimidating excavators/exhumers, concerns over timing/circumstances of CTID summoning of journo, continued involvement of regular cops being likely prejudicial 

The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL), which conducted a fact-finding mission on the ongoing investigation into the mass grave site in Chemmani, Jaffna, has found that while specific institutional actors appear to be discharging their duties with commitment and care, there remains a gap in capacity and will among the law enforcement authorities to ensure accountability for the deaths of the persons found at the site.

The HRCSL visited the site of excavation and exhumation last month (3-4 August) – at a time when over 200 human remains were unearthed – and engaged with the stakeholders including the Office on Missing Persons (OMP) staff, certain attorneys and civil society actors representing the family members of disappeared persons.

They also engaged with Jaffna Magistrate Amalavalan Anandarajah, the Judicial Medical Officer Dr. Selliah Pranavan, and the officer in charge of the preliminary investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the Head of the Forensic Medicine Department (where the remains are stored) of the Jaffna University's Medical Faculty, Dr. P.A. Dinesh Coonghe, and the site work supervising archaeological expert Prof. Raj Somadeva. 

Following the same, the HRCSL made the following observations and findings: Over 90% of the human remains had no form of clothing; given the positioning of the skeletal remains, including that some remains were in extreme proximity to one another, and the shallow depth of the remains, there is a reasonable likelihood that the burials were unlawful and pursuant to extrajudicial killings. 

HRCSL further observed: Major gaps in the expertise and technology available for the investigation including the lack of an adequate number of experts in forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology, the non-availability of technological facilities for more accurate methods of carbon dating, such as bomb-pulse 14Carbon carbon dating, and the lack of cost-effective and accessible technological facilities to analyse deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); notable weaknesses in the timely provision of adequate funds for the investigation; disturbing accounts of certain CID officers intimidating persons involved in excavation and exhumation; and that the timing and the circumstances of the summoning of journalist Kumanan Kanapathippillai by the Counter Terrorism and Investigation Division (CTID) gave rise to serious concerns. 

With regard to the said observations and findings, the HRCSL noted the following: That overseas expertise and technology would be required to effectively complete the investigation; that the continued involvement of regular Police officers in the investigation is likely to prejudice the outcome; and that certain acts by the law enforcement authorities are likely to have a chilling effect on media freedom.

In a report issued in this regard, the HRCSL presented recommendations to the relevant State authorities including the Justice Minister (Initiate a process through which a Standard Operating Procedure for conducting investigations into mass grave sites can be developed in close consultation with all the relevant experts, including attorneys and civil society representatives, and formally adopt the same, and issue regular official updates on the progress of the investigation; Appoint a focal point at the Justice Ministry to expeditiously process budget requests, allocations, and disbursements, and to work closely with the OMP and all State officials involved to ensure timely access to resources; Take immediate steps to provide resources for the use of ground-penetrating radar equipment from the Sri Jayewardenepura University to scan a wider area in the site and the surrounding area; Develop a pool of available archaeological experts to support excavations and exhumations at multiple mass grave sites; Seek and secure the relevant expertise and technological facilities, including from overseas, for analysing the DNA samples gathered from the human remains; Take steps to establish a ‘DNA bank’ in which DNA samples of family members of disappeared persons can be voluntarily obtained and securely stored; Seek and secure the relevant expertise and technological facilities from overseas for the dating of the human remains found, and specifically securing the use of the bomb-pulse 14C carbon dating method; and Take steps to establish a permanent independent ‘Office for the Investigation and Prosecution of Serious Crimes by State Officials’ with broad powers to investigate enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings allegedly committed by members of the security forces or the law enforcement authorities, and to prosecute perpetrators), the Inspector General of Police (Issue directions to the CID to refrain from intimidating any State functionaries or family members of disappeared persons, including pursuing irrelevant and antagonistic lines of questioning; and Issue directions to the CTID to clearly inform a person of the reason for which they are summoned to give a statement, and refrain from misusing investigative powers to summon media personnel, except in clear instances where there is a reasonable suspicion of a specific offence), the Defence Minister and the Army Commander (Issue clear orders to the Army to refrain from any involvement in the ongoing investigations, including contacting any State official, civil society representative, or family member of a disappeared person), the Higher Education Minister (Take steps to review the training requirements pertaining to medical students gaining a speciality in forensic anthropology, and consider limiting the years required for related foreign training to one year, inclusive of State funding for the entire year; and Formulate a plan to incentivise and develop local expertise in forensic archaeology through the university system), and the Finance Minister (Direct the Inland Revenue Department to issue a Value Added Tax exemption notice to the Customs to enable the release of vital laboratory equipment donated to the Jaffna University to establish a Clinical Genetics Unit).