Lawyers urge UN intervention for internationally supervised exhumation at Chemmani mass grave

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reflected on his visit to the Chemmani mass grave site near Jaffna on Wednesday, reiterating the importance of ensuring “independent experts with forensic expertise” are allowed to be used to excavate such sites of mass atrocities.

A cross-section of Tamil political leaders and civil society representatives handed a letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk during his visit to the island, urging the United Nations to maintain a firm stance on accountability for mass atrocities committed in Sri Lanka and not allow the Sri Lankan government to exploit his visit to undermine international pressure.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, visited the Chemmani mass grave site in Jaffna on Wednesday, as well as a vigil set up by Tamil protestors where he laid flowers before a flame amid calls for international accountability over wartime atrocities.

Protesters at the ongoing Chemmani vigil in Jaffna forcibly removed Sri Lankan Fisheries Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekar from the site on Wednesday, rejecting his presence and demanding that he leave immediately.

The ongoing protest demanding justice for the victims of the Chemmani mass graves entered its third consecutive day on Wednesday, with families of the disappeared maintaining a solemn vigil at the site in Jaffna.

A statue of SJV Chelvanayakam, fondly known as Thanthai Chelva, the leader widely regarded as the father of the Tamil nation, was found vandalised in Mannar during the early hours of 25 June, prompting outrage from Tamil political figures and local residents.

During United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk’s visit to the Eastern Province on Tuesday, Tamil victims, families of the disappeared, civil society representatives, and human rights activists staged a protest and submitted a statement outlining urgent demands and concerns.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warned Sri Lanka against falling into the “impunity trap” and urged the government “to hold to account the perpetrators of the most severe crimes” during an address in Colombo on Tuesday.