Chemmani mass grave excavations further delayed due to bad weather

A human skeleton found at Chemmani mass grave site during recent excavation process. - File pix 

The excavations and exhumations at the suspected mass grave site in the Siththupaththy Hindu Cemetery in Chemmani, Jaffna will be delayed due to inclement weather, Office of Missing Persons (OMP) said.

Issuing a statement on the status of the suspected mass grave site, the office said that the cemetery is in a low-lying area and is prone to flooding, and the area which has already been excavated is under water, which will make further excavations at this point difficult. 

The decision to postpone excavations was taken by the Magistrate of Jaffna, S. Leninkumar, after consulting the investigating parties at the site on October 13. The Judicial Medical Officer Dr S. Pranavan along with the Criminal Investigation Department, Police, the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), a lawyer representing the Nallur Pradeshiya Sabha and a member of the Siththupaththy Hindu

Cemetery Committee visited the site with the Magistrate, the statement said. 

The case will be taken up on November 3 when the Magistrate and the investigating parties visit the site and make a decision on whether to resume excavations. In the interim the CID will monitor the site daily and the JMO will visit weekly. 

In addition, members of the Siththupaththy Hindu Cemetery Committee will continue monitoring the site via CCTV cameras. The Ministry of Justice has already approved the budget for the next phase of the excavations amounting to Rs 19,106,000, following the submission of a budget by the JMO at the end of September. 

“Due to several factors such as weather conditions, and competing work schedules, including other mass grave cases, the investigation team broke up the excavations into sessions rather than working continuously”. Dr Pranavan, consultant JMO will submit an additional budget to cover the anthropological analysis of the human remains already exhumed from the site, the statement added. 

The OMP, which has a primary mandate to search for and trace missing persons, has been an observer in this case from April. The Officials of the OMP have been attending excavations on a daily basis. The OMP said it works towards ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to mass grave investigations in order to ensure identification of victims, and the protection of the rights of affected families.