Human skeleton found in Chemma'ni in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 31 July 2008, 10:30 GMT]
Demining employees of Danish Demining Organization engaged in demining Tuesday found a human skeleton suspected to be that of a woman in the area on the eastern flank of Jaffna-Kandy road which includes Chemma'ni and Ariyaalai areas within Jaffna Municipality limits. The hair and dress found on the skeleton point that it may be the skeleton of a woman, Jaffna police said. People gone missing in Jaffna peninsula in the 1996, 1997 periods were suspected of being killed and buried in the above places.

Danish Demining Head Office informed the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and the police in Jaffna about their men finding the human skeleton.

Employees of Halo Trust, the other humanitarian organization handling demining in Jaffna peninsula, had earlier found a human skeleton near Maampazham Chanthi on A9 road while engaged in demining.

Though it was suspected that there may be more such skeletons buried in this area no attempt had been made to explore.

The skeleton found by Halo Trust employees was sent to Colombo for DNA tests but there had been no follow up action on this matter.

On 06 September 1999, Jaffna district judge Manikkavasagam Ilancheliyan severely reprimanded the Jaffna Sri Lankan Security Forces Commander Lohan Gunawardana and the Sri Lankan Army's 51 division General Officer Commanding (GOC) Maj.Gen.Nihal Marambe for interfering in the Chemmmani court proceedings and investigations into the alleged mass graves of civilians arrested and believed to be killed by the army in the peninsula in 1996-97.