A high-level European Union (EU) delegation is scheduled to visit the country’s largest mass grave in Chemmani, Jaffna, next Wednesday (23), as ongoing excavations have so far resulted in the exhumation of 423 human skeletons.
Led by European Union Ambassador Carmen Moreno, the delegation includes Italian Ambassador Damiano Francovigh, German Ambassador Dr. Felix Neumann, French Ambassador Rémi Lambert and Dutch Ambassador Wiebe De Boer.
An application seeking the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court’s permission for the delegation to visit the site was submitted when the case relating to the Chemmani mass grave was taken up for hearing at the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court this week.
The delegation is scheduled to visit the North on Tuesday (21).
Located at the entrance to Jaffna city, the Chemmani mass grave came to light in 1998 following the abduction, gang rape and killing of schoolgirl Krishanti Kumaraswamy and three others by Army personnel.
The current excavations began last February after workers discovered human remains while digging a pit to construct a fence near a cemetery. The ongoing excavations are being conducted in phases under the purview of the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court, with the involvement of archaeologists, judicial medical officers and lawyers attached to the Jaffna Bar.
By Friday (17), another 11 human remains had been identified, increasing the total number of remains recovered to 423.
Several artifacts, including jewellery and ornaments, have also been recovered during the excavation process and are currently being held under judicial custody.
According to the Office on Missing Persons (OMP), more than 6,000 of the total 22,000 complaints relating to missing persons were received from the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
