UN human rights chief reflects on Chemmani visit
by Tamil Guardian, London, June 25, 2025
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.
Standing at the mass grave site, which has become emblematic of the state-sanctioned atrocities committed against Tamils, Türk reflected on the emotional weight of his visit.
“I am here at the mass grave site Chemmani near Jaffna. It is always very emotional to visit places where the past, the haunting past, becomes so visible,” he said.
The High Commissioner also met with relatives of the disappeared, including a woman whose nephew vanished in the mid-1990s. Their ongoing anguish, he said, underlined the critical need for meaningful accountability.
“I’ve also just met with family members of those whose loved ones were disappeared. A woman whose nephew disappeared in the mid-nineties and they are always worrying what happened to him,” he continued. “This is always the pain and suffering you feel when you speak to people who don’t know what happened to their loved ones. So, this is a step further towards accountability and justice, and bringing closure to what otherwise is extremely painful.”
Chemmani first came to global attention in 1998 when Sri Lankan soldier Somaratne Rajapakse, convicted in the rape and murder of Tamil schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, testified under oath that mass graves had been dug in the area to dispose of the bodies of Tamils extrajudicially killed by security forces. Excavations in 1999 uncovered 15 bodies, but the full extent of the site has never been properly investigated. The discovery of 19 more skeletal remains this year, including infants, has renewed calls for international involvement in uncovering the truth.
Türk reiterated the need for rigorous, internationally led forensic investigations to ensure justice and closure for Tamil families who have spent decades seeking answers.
“When you are at a mass grave site, the one thing that needs to be done is thorough investigations, robust investigations, by independent experts with forensic expertise, who can bring out the truth and bring closure to the pain and suffering of family members whose loved ones were disappeared,” he said.
His remarks echo concerns from Tamil families and civil society groups who have long rejected domestic mechanisms as ineffective, unwilling and compromised. They continue to demand international oversight and an independent judicial process, particularly in light of consistent interference and suppression of evidence in past investigations.
The visit formed part of Türk’s wider trip to Sri Lanka, during which he warned Colombo against falling into an “impunity trap” and stressed that “an absence of justice will undermine the stability of peace.”