செம்மணி · பொறுப்புக்கூறல் மேசைChemmani Accountability Desk
செம்மணி · கொக்குத்தொடுவாய்
எண்ணு. பெயரிடு. உண்மையைக் காப்பாற்று.Count Them. Name Them. Protect the Truth.
The Chemmani site has been on the public record since 1998. Fresh remains surfaced at the Ariyalai Siththupaththi Hindu Cemetery, Nallur, in February 2025, and the Jaffna Magistrate's Court re-opened the exhumation under the presiding Magistrate Selvanayagam Leninkumar, with V.S. Niranjan appearing as counsel of record. 480 sets of remains have been publicly identified across the first, second, and third phases, of which 479 are fully exhumed over 96 days of work (Tamil Guardian, 28 Jul 2026, reporting the daily investigator briefings to court). The third phase was halted again on that date, with resumption reported for 4 August 2026. The figure stood at 467 on 22 Jul 2026 (day 93) — the day a high-level EU diplomatic delegation led by EU Ambassador Carmen Moreno, with the ambassadors of Italy, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, walked the site under Jaffna court authorisation. Families of the disappeared handed the delegation a written memorandum renewing the long-standing demand for an independent international investigation (full dossier at /institute/chemmani/eu-visit-jul-2026). Of the 1999 phase — 15 exhumed, 7 identified/returned — 8 remain un-returned to families after 27 years (per UN AL LKA 1/2025). Chemmani is the largest identified mass grave on the island. The ITJP's 14 July 2026 report anchors the continuing accountability gap. The State-Silence Ledger logs which institutions have and have not responded on the public record. Identification, cause, and accountability are matters only a credentialed judicial and forensic process can settle. This page cites that process. It does not substitute for it.
From a grave to a filing.
Four public artefacts that route Chemmani evidence onto rails that already exist — OHCHR, the UK sanctions template, ICMP standards, and the civil-society tribunal form.
Peer-reviewed DNA-led kinship model, side-by-side.
Standing UN evidence-preservation mandate.
Built on the 24 March 2025 designation template.
Uyghur Tribunal-form, Aarambam-era architectural spec.
Citation-only mirror. Court orders, OHCHR file, journalism. No names, no TLTE-aggregated counts, no claims about cause or perpetrator. The Witness Pledge as the first path gate.
A standing companion to OHCHR's Sri Lanka Accountability Project and the Jaffna court file — readable in English and Tamil, cited cleanly, with a live silence dashboard and MP Pack #18 (Chemmani Accountability) keeping the demand visible.
A mass-grave accountability case in Jaffna.
Chemmani is a site in the Jaffna peninsula of northern Sri Lanka, named in 1998 court testimony by Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse during the Krishanthi Kumaraswamy trial. First exhumations began in 1999 under Jaffna Magistrate's Court supervision. In February 2025, construction workers building a new crematorium at the Ariyalai Siththupaththi Hindu Cemetery, Nallur, unearthed further remains; the court re-opened the site.
The current excavation, in its third phase as of June 2026, is supervised by the presiding Jaffna Magistrate Selvanayagam Leninkumar (publicly named in June 2026 press coverage), with Prof. Raj Somadeva of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (University of Kelaniya) as lead forensic archaeologist and V.S. Niranjan as counsel of record. The publicly reported trajectory on the judicial record — 262 identified on 2 Jun, 283 on 4 Jun, 327 on 9 Jun, 380 on 17 Jun, 387 on 24 Jun (day 27, the point at which the site surpassed every other mass grave uncovered on the island), 412 identified / 390 exhumed on 29 Jun (day 31), 420 on 16 Jul (day 34, after a three-week suspension), 423 on 17 Jul, 454 on 20 Jul (day 92, 440 fully exhumed), 467 on 22 Jul (day 93, the day of the EU diplomatic visit; 13 sets recovered that day alone, including three children), 471 on 23 Jul, 478 on 24 Jul (headless remains, and one body recovered in a raincoat), and 480 identified / 479 fully exhumed on 28 Jul (day 96), at which point the third phase was halted with resumption reported for 4 August 2026(Sunday Times 19 Jul; Tamil Guardian 21, 23, 24 and 28 Jul; India Today 22 Jul citing lawyer Ranitha Gnanaraja; Newswire 21 Jul; Groundviews long-form 14 Aug 2025). On the strength of that public record, Chemmani is now the largest identified mass grave on the island of Sri Lanka. Identification is partial. Cause of death and chain of responsibility remain matters for an independent forensic and judicial process.
Chemmani sits inside the OHCHR Sri Lanka Accountability Project (OSLAP), established under HRC resolution 46/1 (2021) and renewed 51/1, 57/1, 60/1 — the UN's standing repository for evidence on past gross violations in Sri Lanka. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL) published its own Fact-Finding Report on the site in September 2025. On 16 June 2025, HRW, ICJ, Amnesty and four other bodies wrote publicly to UN High Commissioner Volker Türk ahead of his 23–26 June 2025 visit. On 21 July 2025, four UN Special Procedures mandate-holders issued Joint Allegation Letter AL LKA 1/2025 to the Government of Sri Lanka. On 19 June 2026, Minister of Justice Harshana Nanayakkara visited the site and publicly stated funds had been allocated for Phase 3; a subsequent parliamentary dispute over whether the Government would formally seek international forensic assistance for Chemmani remains unresolved on the public record. On 14 July 2026, the International Truth & Justice Project (ITJP) published a fresh report anchoring the continuing accountability gap. On 22 July 2026, under Jaffna Magistrate's Court authorisation granted two days earlier, a high-level EU diplomatic delegation — Ambassadors Carmen Moreno (EU), Damiano Francovigh (Italy), Dr Felix Neumann (Germany), Rémi Lambert (France) and Wiebe De Boer (Netherlands) — walked the site; the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances handed the delegation a written memorandum renewing the family demand for an independent international investigation. In UK Foreign Affairs Committee oral evidence (Q315–Q316), Foreign Secretary David Lammy — pressed by MP Uma Kumaran — confirmed that Sri Lanka is not an ICC state party, which places accountability weight onto OSLAP evidence-banking, universal jurisdiction, UNGA / UNSC referral, and targeted sanctions.
The Mannar precedent.
The lead forensic archaeologist at Chemmani, Prof. Raj Somadeva, is the same expert who publicly questioned the results of the Beta Analytic (Florida) radiocarbon dating of bone samples from the Mannar mass grave in 2019. That dispute — where six samples were dated at over 500 years old — led the Mannar Magistrate's Court to temporarily halt that excavation.
This is a matter of public record, reported by Asia Times, LankaWeb and BBC Sinhala in 2019. TLTE names it here not as an accusation but because any international forensic reviewer will ask it, and the international record for Chemmani is stronger when the question is addressed openly than when it is left to be weaponised later. Both the HRCSL September 2025 fact-finding report and the Sri Lanka Brief coverage (September 2025) note gaps in domestic carbon-dating capacity and forensic expertise; the Justice Minister has said the Government will seek international assistance "when necessary". Independent international forensic oversight — a standing demand of the Bishop of Mannar (2013), PEARL and ITJP — remains the answer.
A grave may be shallow. The suppression is not.
TLTE begins its public accountability work with Chemmani because no future for a people can be built while their dead remain unnamed and their families remain unanswered. This is not the only mass-grave file. It is the first one TLTE will hold visibly, as a public accountability case, on a permanent civic surface — until the identification, the cause, and the responsibility are matters of public record, not public memory.
The honest picture.
- ?01Many identities remain unknown. Identification can only be established by a credentialed forensic and judicial process.
- ?02Cause of death has not been publicly confirmed for all remains.
- ?03Responsibility — command chain, unit, individual — must be established through proper investigation. The Institute does not name perpetrators.
- ?04The site requires continuous protection from disturbance and from political interference with chain of custody.
- ?05Families require a victim-safe DNA and truth pathway. That pathway is not the Institute's to build — it belongs to OHCHR, ITJP, OMP, and the courts.
Where the record lives.
The Institute does not hold the casework. These bodies do. We point.
- EU delegation to Sri Lanka · Ambassadors of Italy, Germany, France, NetherlandsConfirmed22 July 2026High-level EU diplomatic site visit to Chemmani under Jaffna Magistrate's Court authorisation
First internationally-attended, court-authorised diplomatic visit to the excavation. Delegation led by EU Ambassador Carmen Moreno with Ambassadors Damiano Francovigh (Italy), Dr Felix Neumann (Germany), Rémi Lambert (France), and Wiebe De Boer (Netherlands). Court permission granted 20 Jul 2026. Members of the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances handed the delegation a written memorandum renewing the demand for an independent international investigation. Full dossier at /institute/chemmani/eu-visit-jul-2026.
Open source - International Truth & Justice Project (ITJP)Confirmed14 July 2026New Chemmani report — continuing failure of accountability
Fresh Tier-A anchor on the accountability-gap frame. ITJP's 14 July 2026 report on the Chemmani exhumations highlights that despite court-supervised momentum through Phase 3, the institutional accountability gap (independent international forensic oversight, victim-safe DNA pathway, chain-of-custody standards) remains unclosed. Companion to the 2023 ITJP Mass Graves and Failed Exhumations report.
Open source - Ministry of Justice, Sri Lanka — Minister Harshana NanayakkaraCredible report19 June 2026Ministerial site visit and parliamentary dispute on international forensic assistance
Minister Harshana Nanayakkara visited the Chemmani site on 19 June 2026 and publicly stated that funds had been allocated for the Phase 3 dig. A subsequent parliamentary dispute over whether the Government would formally seek international forensic assistance for Chemmani remains unresolved on the public record. First minister-level engagement with the site on record.
Open source - OHCHR — Sri Lanka Accountability ProjectConfirmedStandingStanding accountability file (HRC res. 46/1, 51/1, 57/1; renewed 60/1)
Mandated UN repository of evidence on past gross violations, including mass-grave casework. Chemmani sits inside this standing file.
Open source - Jaffna Magistrate's Court (Sri Lanka)ConfirmedFeb 2025 → present · third phase active Jun 2026Court-supervised excavations at Chemmani / Ariyalai Siththupaththi Hindu Cemetery (Nallur, Jaffna) — Magistrate Selvanayagam Leninkumar presiding
Discovery Feb 2025 by construction workers building a crematorium at the Ariyalai Siththupaththi Hindu Cemetery, Nallur. Site is on the historical record from 1998 (Cpl Somaratne Rajapakse testimony, Krishanthi Kumaraswamy trial) with first exhumations in 1999. Re-opened under the presiding Jaffna Magistrate Selvanayagam Leninkumar (publicly named in June 2026 press coverage; officer-of-court doctrine), counsel of record V.S. Niranjan (Jaffna Bar). Trajectory on the judicial record: 262 identified (2 Jun 2026) → 283 (4 Jun) → 327 (9 Jun) → 380 (17 Jun); over 410 sets of remains identified and over 400 exhumed as of end-June 2026 (Tamil Guardian day-count reporting; Groundviews 14 Aug 2025). Now the largest identified mass grave on the island. Lead forensic archaeologist Prof. Raj Somadeva. Only a court process can establish identification and cause.
Open source - Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka (HRCSL)ConfirmedSeptember 2025Fact-Finding Report on the ongoing investigation into the mass grave site in Chemmani, Jaffna (September 2025)
Sri Lanka's national human rights body's own on-record fact-finding. Documents chronology, gaps in forensic capacity, and the domestic-institutional record. A Tier-A anchor from within Sri Lanka's constitutional architecture.
Open source - HRW · ICJ · Amnesty International · four undersigned orgsConfirmed16 June 2025Joint public letter to UN High Commissioner Volker Türk ahead of his Sri Lanka visit
Public open letter published on the eve of the High Commissioner's 23–26 June 2025 official visit to Sri Lanka. Frames the international-standards baseline for the Chemmani period.
Open source - Bishop of Mannar — Rt Rev Rayappu Joseph (2013, LLRC)ConfirmedStandingStanding call for independent international forensic oversight of mass-grave sites in the North-East
The Bishop of Mannar's standing testimony — the original civic call for credentialed independent forensic process. Cited as a standing demand on /institute/chemmani/demands.
Open source - Al JazeeraCredible report16 June 2025New Sri Lanka mass grave discovery reopens old wounds for Tamils
International reporting on the renewed Chemmani excavation. On-site coverage, cited for context only — TLTE does not aggregate family voices.
Open source - International Truth & Justice Project (ITJP)ConfirmedStanding · 2023 reportSri Lanka mass-grave documentation (see also Mass Graves and Failed Exhumations, June 2023)
Credentialed casework custodian. Families and journalists with material should go here, not to TLTE. The 2023 ITJP mass-graves report is the standing comparative frame for Sri Lankan exhumation failures (esp. Matale).
Open source - PEARL ActionConfirmedStandingDisappearances and mass-grave casework
Diaspora-side documentation and family liaison.
Open source - Adayaalam Centre for Policy ResearchConfirmedStandingNorthern transitional-justice monitoring (mass graves)
Jaffna-based research centre; standing source on mass-grave protocol failures in the Northern Province.
Open source - Office on Missing Persons (Sri Lanka)Credible reportStandingStatutory missing-persons casework
Statutory body. Honesty index — approximately 6,700 cases formally under review against the ~16,700 UN-recognised cumulative caseload. Chemmani remains sit alongside this gap.
Open source - Tamil GuardianCredible reportLiveChemmani excavations — running news file
Independent diaspora outlet tracking each court session and exhumation phase. Used as a link target only.
Open source
Seven Sins · enforced
- ·We never publish a name, photograph, or identifying detail of any victim or family member.
- ·We never publish our own count of remains. The judicial record carries the figure; we cite it.
- ·We never publish op-sec or coordinates beyond what the court itself has placed on the public record.
- ·We never assert cause of death, perpetrator, command chain, or unit.
- ·We never accept survivor or family intake. Families are routed to ITJP, PEARL, OMP, OHCHR, and the UK 999 / Refuge line.
- ·We never frame this as a Tamil-versus-Sinhalese question. It is a question of judicial process and forensic standards under international law.
Two load-bearing records.
Ambassadors Moreno, Francovigh, Neumann, Lambert, De Boer on the ground. Families' memorandum handed over. 467 sets on the judicial record that day; 480 by 28 Jul.
Joint Allegation Letter from four UN mandate-holders. The UN record of the 1999 Chemmani gap.
Lammy to Kumaran: Sri Lanka is not an ICC state party. What routes remain open.
Stand With Chemmani.
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