Policy Brief: Chemmani Mass Graves and Justice for Eelam Tamils By: Wimal Navaratnam, Human Rights Activist Background: Chemmani Mass Graves in Jaffna  Chemmani is a village on Jaffna’s outskirts that became synonymous with mass graves of Tamil civilians from Sri Lanka’s civil war. The issue first came to light in 1998 during the trial of several Sri Lankan soldiers for the rape and murder of 18-year-old Krishanthi Kumaraswamy and her family. Krishanthi had been stopped at a military checkpoint in Jaffna in September 1996 and later found murdered along with her mother, brother (16), and a neighbor – their bodies hastily buried in shallow graves at Chemmani. During sentencing in July 1998, Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse, one of the convicted soldiers, made a shocking disclosure: beyond the Kumaraswamy family, “300 to 400” more Tamil civilians who disappeared during the 1995–96 military campaign in Jaffna were executed and buried in Chemmani. This testimony marked the first ...