The recent exhumation of a mass grave in Chemmani-Sindupathy, near Jaffna in northern Eelam, has once again laid bare the brutal history of genocide faced by the Tamil people in Sri Lanka. The discovery of skeletal remains of five Tamils—including a child—has sent shockwaves through the global Tamil community, reopening old wounds and reinforcing the urgent demand for justice.
This site is not an isolated case, but one of many hidden mass graves across the Tamil homeland—each one a silent witness to state-sponsored mass murder.
The Krishanthi Tragedy: A Turning Point
On September 7, 1996, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, a schoolgirl from Chundikkuli Girls’ College, was abducted, gang-raped, and murdered by 11 Sri Lankan army personnel while returning home from an exam. Her mother Rasamma, brother Pranavan, and family friend Chidambaram Kirubamoorthy, who went in search of her, were also brutally killed. Their bodies were discovered buried in a nearby field the next day.
This horrific crime ignited mass protests among Eelam Tamils and drew international attention. Under mounting pressure from global women’s rights groups and human rights advocates, seven soldiers and two police officers were arrested. During the trial, one convicted soldier, Somaratne Rajapakse, testified that hundreds of Tamils had been abducted, tortured, and murdered by senior army officers in 1995–96—and that he could identify several mass grave sites, including Chemmani.
Chemmani: A Graveyard of Truth
Following intervention from the United Nations, excavations were initiated. Human remains were indeed found. However, only a fraction of the graves were ever exhumed. Despite credible evidence suggesting that over 500 Tamils were massacred and buried in Chemmani alone, the Sri Lankan state halted investigations, buried evidence, and protected the perpetrators.
To this day, not a single senior military officer has been convicted for these atrocities. Investigations begin, spark media attention, and then vanish—along with justice.
Mass Graves: The Unseen Landscape of Genocide
Chemmani is not the only such site. The soil of Eelam is filled with similar graves—silent witnesses to a slow and systematic genocide. Most of the thousands of Tamils who remain “missing” were in fact killed by the Sri Lankan military and secretly buried without trial, record, or recognition. Their families are left in lifelong agony, searching for answers that the state refuses to provide.
Even after the genocide of 200,000 Tamils in 2009, witnessed by the world in real time, no credible investigation has been conducted. If justice is denied for 200,000 openly massacred people, what hope remains for the thousands buried in secret?
A New Call for Global Accountability
Just two weeks ago, the remains of five Tamils—including a child—were unearthed from a mass grave near Chemmani. In response, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, visited the site during the ongoing Unquenchable Flame protest. His visit has rekindled hope among Tamils for international attention and action.
But Chemmani is only a symbolic starting point. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of similar sites across Eelam. A full international, scientific excavation and investigation of all mass graves must be urgently initiated.
What Must Be Done
The United Nations Human Rights Council must launch an independent international investigation into the Chemmani mass graves and other such sites.
The Sri Lankan state’s obstruction of justice must be condemned and countered with international legal mechanisms.
These investigations must go beyond surface-level findings and establish the truth of a decades-long genocide through forensic, historical, and testimonial evidence.
A Just Solution: Tamil Eelam
The Chemmani graves are not just burial sites. They are the foundation of the case for Tamil sovereignty. True justice for the Tamil people can never be achieved under the Sri Lankan state, which has been the architect of their oppression. Only a sovereign Tamil Eelam can guarantee safety, dignity, and justice for the Tamil nation.
– Seeman | Chief Coordinator | NTK
