Latest Developments on Chemmani Mass Graves Excavation (July 6–8, 2025) Between July 6 and July 8, 2025, s ignificant new developments unfolded in the investigation of the Chemmani mass graves in northern Sri Lanka. Excavators in Jaffna continued to unearth human remains, sparking widespread reactions. Below is a detailed report covering the progress of new excavations, the findings revealed, the government’s responses, the reactions of victims’ families, and the latest international interventions during this period. New Excavations (Early July 2025) Expansion of digging sites: In the first week of July, the court-authorized excavation at Chemmani moved into a new phase. On July 2, investigators opened additional sections of the Chemmani-Ariyalai Siththuppaththi Hindu cemetery identified as suspicious via satellite imagery. Excavation teams even began work at two extra nearby sites beyond the initial area, indicating the search radius is wi...

From checkpoints to surrender lists, mandamus litigation has pierced the fog of impunity— but only if Tamil communities use it to build a global legal case. By: Wimal Navaratnam, Human Rights Activist, July 08, 2025 The Road to Accountability Begins in Court Decades after the war that ravaged Sri Lanka’s Tamil population, justice for the tens of thousands of disappeared civilians remains elusive. Whether abducted in white vans, vanished after military surrender, or buried secretly in places like Chemmani, Tamil victims have been trapped in a silence engineered by the state. But the silence is not total. In dusty courthouses across the North, families and lawyers have carved a path—a legal insurgency of truth—through mandamus litigation . It’s a path every Tamil activist, lawyer, and politician must now walk to preserve truth, secure evidence, and internationalize justice before it’s buried for good. What Is a Mandamus—and Why Does It Matter? A writ of mandamus is a court order ...

Forensic Notes on Exhumations and Investigations in Sri Lanka By: Wimal Navaratnam, Human Rights Activist, July 06,2025 Overview and Forensic Context Forensic Notes on Exhumations and Investigations Delayed and Incomplete Exhumations Many sites were uncovered by chance (e.g. by construction or demining crews) and then faced long delays or partial excavations. In several cases (Kalavanchikudy, Chemmani, etc.), court-ordered exhumations stalled or remained incomplete for years. Only 7 out of 32 known mass graves (island-wide) had been fully excavated by 2023, and even those yielded few identifications or prosecutions. Families still have no closure in the vast majority of cases. Site Tampering and Evidence Loss A recurring issue is poor preservation of grave sites, leading to contamination and loss of forensic evidence. For example, the 2013 Mannar mass grave site was left exposed to the elements and unauthorized access, contaminating remains before analysis. At Jaffna’s Dura...