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The UK government said it is “deeply concerned” over the ongoing exhumations at the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna, as calls mount for an international investigation into one of the most emblematic atrocity sites linked to Sri Lanka’s campaign of enforced disappearances.
In a written response to a parliamentary question from Sarah Champion MP, Chair of the International Development Committee, Foreign Office Minister Catherine West reiterated Britain’s commitment to accountability and said the UK has been “regularly meeting the Government of Sri Lanka to discuss reconciliation and accountability and to press for tangible progress, particularly on cases of enforced disappearances.”
Champion had asked what representations the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had made in support of an “independent UN investigation into the Chemmani site”, including provisions for exhumations, forensic analysis, and victim-centred consultations.
“The UK Government is deeply concerned by the recent discovery of the mass grave in Chemmani,” West replied. “We remain committed to supporting accountability for human rights violations.”
Referring to her own visit to the island earlier this year, West added, “In January, I visited Sri Lanka and met a range of stakeholders including the Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, civil society organisations, as well as political leaders in the north of Sri Lanka to discuss human rights.”
She noted that British officials at the High Commission in Colombo “maintain close contact with families of the disappeared from across the country, working to ensure their voices are heard,” and confirmed that the issue has been raised directly with the Sri Lankan government.
The minister went on to affirm the UK’s international role, stating, “We continue to lead international efforts such as at the UN Human Rights Council alongside the Core Group to ensure perpetrators are held to account.”
The Chemmani mass grave has long been associated with extrajudicial killings by the Sri Lankan military in the 1990s. After being first exposed by convicted soldier Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapaksa during the 1998 trial over the gang rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, the site drew international attention. Partial excavations in 1999 unearthed 15 skeletons, but no senior officials have ever been prosecuted.
The site has since resurfaced in 2024 and 2025, as dozens more skeletons, many of them believed to be children, have been unearthed. Human rights groups and Tamil families of the disappeared have repeatedly called for international oversight, warning of evidence tampering and the Sri Lankan state’s long history of impunity.
Earlier this week, Dame Siobhain McDonagh MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tamils, also urged the UK to push for an international investigation under the existing UN Human Rights Council Resolution 46/1, warning that failure to act risks repeating past failures to secure justice for the Tamil people.