Veerasingam of the Equal Rights Movement speaks to the media
The Equal Rights Movement, a campaign group with historical links to the left-wing Frontline Socialist Party, has called for an independent international panel of experts to examine evidence recovered from the Chemmani mass grave.
Veerasingam, an activist with the movement, said on Sunday that the investigation should not rely solely on Professor Raj Somadeva of the University of Kelaniya, and called for a multidisciplinary investigation including scientific dating of the remains, DNA testing, the extraction of genetic material from bones and forensic examinations by qualified specialists.
He accused successive Sri Lankan governments of using investigations to create an appearance of progress, and said the current government was pursuing such tactics more effectively than its predecessors. Like previous administrations, it continued to deny war crimes by state forces and was trying to divert attention from the evidence for political gain, he said.
More than 17 years after the end of the Tamil liberation war, no meaningful steps had been taken to resolve the national question, and no credible investigation had established the fate of the disappeared despite substantial testimony, he said.
The tally board at the Chemmani excavation site recording 583 sets of human remains. File photograph
The third phase of excavations at Chemmani ended with 583 sets of human remains recovered, including those of children and infants. Somadeva has submitted interim reports to court, the latest of which raised the possibility that the burials resulted from an epidemic or disaster, a conclusion contradicted by its own evidence .
The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has warned of possible extrajudicial killings at the site, and its fact-finding report found that more than 90 per cent of the remains had no clothing.
The burials at Chemmani first came to light in 1998 through the testimony of Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse, convicted over the rape and murder of the schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy , who said hundreds of Tamils detained by the Sri Lankan military had been buried there.
An Equal Rights Movement protest in Jaffna demanding justice over Chemmani in November 2025. File photograph
The movement, which has protested in Jaffna over mass graves and enforced disappearances, called for those responsible to be identified and punished, alongside a lasting political solution to prevent similar crimes.
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