Chemmani and beyond

In recent weeks, renewed attention has been drawn to the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna. First discovered in the late 1990s, Chemmani remains one of the country’s most emblematic—and most tragic—symbols of mass atrocity and impunity. The site is believed to contain the remains of Tamil civilians who disappeared in the late 1990s, allegedly killed by State forces. 

The resurfacing of public interest in Chemmani is a welcome development. Yet, it must not end there. It should serve as a catalyst for deeper reflection and decisive action on the broader, more disturbing reality: Sri Lanka is a land scattered with mass graves, each one a silent testament to the State’s brutal history of extrajudicial killings.

To date, over two dozen mass graves have been unearthed across the country. They are not only in the war-scarred North but also in the South—sites of mass atrocity, often shrouded in secrecy and marked by a haunting lack of accountability. The numbers are staggering. At least 60,000 people were reportedly extrajudicially killed during the 1987–1989 period alone, a time when the State launched a merciless crackdown on suspected supporters of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). These victims, many of them young, were abducted, tortured, and killed—without trial, without charge, and without justice.

Today, the JVP-led coalition is in government with an overwhelming electoral mandate grounded in promises of justice, accountability, and reform. The people voted for change, not merely in rhetoric, but in real, tangible action. Yet, on the issue of justice for past atrocities, this Government has failed and failed miserably. The silence on mass graves is deafening. The inaction is inexcusable.

It is a bitter irony that those who once demanded justice for the atrocities committed against their own are now silent in the face of similar demands from other communities. Justice cannot be selective. It cannot be doled out based on political convenience. Chemmani grave deserves justice, so too do the mass graves in Matale, Mannar, Kokkuthuduvai and countless other sites across the island. Each victim, whether Tamil, Sinhalese, or Muslim, deserves recognition, truth, and redress.

There is no dearth of evidence. Forensic investigations, witness testimonies, and human rights reports have repeatedly pointed to State responsibility in these killings. What is lacking is political will. Successive Governments have either ignored the problem or used it as a bargaining chip in power politics. Meanwhile, the families of the disappeared continue to wait—some for decades—for even the most basic acknowledgment of their pain.

United Nations bodies, human rights organisations, and Sri Lanka’s own commissions have highlighted the need for accountability. Yet, domestic mechanisms have failed to deliver. Commissions have been used to delay justice, not deliver it. Legal reforms have been stalled. Promises have been broken.

The Government of President Anura Kumara Disanayake must act now. A comprehensive truth and justice process must be established—one that is independent, inclusive, and equipped with the authority to investigate all mass graves, and extrajudicial killings, regardless of when or where they were discovered. The victims and their families deserve more than symbolic gestures. They deserve the truth. They deserve accountability. They deserve justice.