by Amnesty International, London, March 3, 2026
Index Number: IOR 40/0761/2026
Amnesty International submits this input in response to the call issued to inform the Report of the Secretary-General on Missing Persons pursuant to General Assembly resolution 79/173. Due to the limited word count available, it is not an exhaustive account of the organization’s concerns but includes examples for the report…
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS AND PROSECUTIONS IN CASES OF MISSING PERSONS
…Sri Lanka has thus far only managed to achieve successful prosecutions in two instances of disappearances – not
as enforced disappearances, but for offences related to abduction. Both these cases pre-date the end of the war.
The first success is with the 1989 Embilipitiya school boys’ case and the second is the 1996 Krishanthy
Kumaraswamy case. Post-war, only a handful of emblematic cases of enforced disappearances have made it to trial
stage. As far as Amnesty is aware, none of the cases are being prosecuted for enforced disappearances, but for
crimes such as abduction and murder – offences that do not acknowledge a core element of the crime, i.e.
involvement of the state, for example in the Prageeth Eknaligoda case and the ‘Navy 11’ case.18
In many cases where state actors are implicated in enforced disappearances, prosecutions have not been
forthcoming. This is because the Attorney General’s department holds a dual and conflicting mandate: legal advisor
and defendant of the state and chief prosecutor. In practice, this dual mandate becomes problematic when state
officials or security forces are accused of serious crimes committed with the authorization, support or acquiescence
of state authorities. In such cases, the roles tend to blur, undermining prosecutorial independence. The
prosecution of enforced disappearances by the Attorney General’s department would be challenging for this very
reason.
The Court of Appeal’s writ jurisdiction of habeas corpus under Article 141 of the Constitution has not in practice
proven to be an institutional remedy available for victims of enforced disappearances. Many habeas corpus cases
were dismissed due to petitioners’ absence, often caused by poverty or fear. Respondents, usually state agents,
avoided court by citing service duties. Some petitioners, or their lawyers disappeared or faced threats, making
justice inaccessible.19…
THE FORENSIC RECOVERY AND IDENTIFICATION OF REMAINS OF MISSING PERSONS;
In Sri Lanka, a report released in 2023 drew attention to the fate of mass graves or clandestine graves discovered
around the country.20 It highlighted the flawed exhumation process, lack of involvement of families in the process,
the very few exhumations that have led to identification of victims, or any clarification of the circumstances
surrounding their deaths, let alone prosecutions and convictions. Mass graves were discovered in 2023 in
Kokkuthoduvai in the Mullaithivu district, in Muhamalai in the Kilinochchi district in April 2024, and near
Chemmani in the Jaffna district in February 2025. In Kokkuthoduvai, the year-long excavation process unearthed
52 skeletons.21 Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) reportedly confirmed that bodies of individuals whose remains were
excavated from the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave were buried “in a hurry” without any religious rites, sometime
between 1994 and 1996.22 Amnesty raised concerns23 around the Chemmani mass grave that is being exhumed at
the time of submission. Reports from journalists covering the exhumation indicate that 65 skeletons have been
exhumed and that the Ministry of Justice has released the necessary funds required for the process.24 In an interim
report submitted to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court, Archaeologist Professor Raj Somadeva reportedly highlighted that
the recovered skeletal remains do not resemble those from customary burials.25 Sri Lanka has multiple mass graves
in the South of the country26 where there were two armed insurrections during the 1970s and 1980s. One of the
largest discovered so far is the 2018 Mannar mass grave which saw the exhumation of more than 300 skeletons.27