Tamil protestors call for an international justice mechanism in Jaffna this week.
A group of French parliamentarians have issued a joint statement calling for an independent international investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Tamils in Sri Lanka, following the recent discovery of mass graves in the North-East.
In a press release issued by members of the National Assembly on 17 July 2025, the MPs from La France Insoumise (LFI) and New Ecological and Social People's Union (NFP) condemned decades of human rights violations against the Tamil people, stressing the need for justice, truth and reparations.
“In the final months of the civil war, tens of thousands of Tamils were massacred by the Sri Lankan authorities,” the statement read. “Various reports put the death toll from the long civil war at 40,000, a figure that remains largely underestimated according to various experts.”
The parliamentarians cited a litany of documented violations by successive Sri Lankan governments, including the use of heavy weapons in civilian areas, extrajudicial executions, rape, enforced disappearances, torture, and the internment of Tamil civilians in camps with limited or no access to healthcare or legal representation.
Their statement also pointed to the recent unearthing of human remains in Chemmani, Jaffna, where skeletons, including those believed to be of children, have been uncovered since February 2025. This marks the second time that mass graves have been identified at the Chemmani site. In 1999, the discovery of 15 skeletal remains followed a confession from Sri Lankan soldier Corporal Somaratna Rajapakse.
“The existence of war crimes and the continued inability of the Tamil people to live in peace in Sri Lanka for over 80 years have been clearly established,” the MPs said. “Yet, while the Tamil people demand justice, no independent investigation has been conducted to date.”
The statement also referenced other mass graves uncovered in the North-East in recent years, including in Thiruketheeswaram (Mannar), Kalavanchikudy (Batticaloa), the Cooperative Wholesale Establishment (Mannar) and Kokkuthoduvai (Mullaitivu), describing the pattern as emblematic of the Sri Lankan state’s long-standing impunity.
In light of these developments, the MPs urged the French government to “commit to the recognition of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Tamil people in Sri Lanka” and called on France to support a credible international judicial process.
They argued that the Chemmani excavations provide a critical opportunity to initiate legal proceedings before an international tribunal and to hold those responsible to account.
“The 220,000 people of Tamil origin residing in France, most of whom arrived to flee the war in the 1980s, like the rest of the Tamil community worldwide, urgently need truth, justice, and reparation,” the statement concluded.
The joint declaration was signed by Carlos Martens Bilongo (Val d’Oise), Éric Coquerel, Aly Diouara and Thomas Portes (Seine-Saint-Denis), Perceval Gaillard and Jean-Hugues Ratenon (Réunion), all members of the National Assembly representing the LFI-NFP coalition.
Read the full text of the letter below.
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