Blue Schoolbag and Infant Bones: Chemmani Mass Graves Reopen Sri Lanka’s Wartime Wounds

Content warning: This article contains descriptions of human remains and wartime violence that some readers may find disturbing.

Two human skeletons lie entwined in the earth — one set of arms wrapped around the other’s skull, as if shielding them. Marked only as numbers 177 and 178, their names remain unknown. They are among roughly 240 skeletal remains, including infants and children, recently exhumed from a mass burial site at Chemmani in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna district.

A weathered sign at the site reads: "This place is a crime scene no entry." Numbered white markers beside the bones record the running total discovered since excavations began in May, reviving long-standing allegations of wartime killings and cover-ups that many in the region thought had been buried.

What investigators have found

Forensic teams, archaeologists and crime-scene officers working under the Jaffna magistrate have carefully exposed remains from shallow pits about 1.5–2 feet deep. Personal items recovered include a baby’s milk bottle, bangles, cloth fragments and a blue schoolbag. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka reported that more than 90% of the exhumed remains showed no sign of clothing — a fact the commission says is inconsistent with customary Hindu burial practices and suggests the burials may have followed unlawful, extrajudicial killings.

Investigators used ground-penetrating radar to map the area and have sought judicial approval to expand the excavation after signals indicated further possible burials. By late November, however, fieldwork had not resumed.

Historical context

From 1983 to 2009 Sri Lanka endured a civil war between state security forces and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The United Nations estimates as many as 100,000 people were killed and thousands more forcibly disappeared. The conflict disproportionately affected Tamil-majority communities in the north and east, which faced intense combat, occupation and allegations of rights abuses.

Chemmani first attracted attention in 1998 when a soldier on trial for other crimes said hundreds of Tamils had been buried there after the army retook Jaffna. The recent discovery came when workers clearing ground within a Hindu cemetery uncovered skeletal remains earlier this year.

Families press for answers

Sixteen years after the war’s end, families of the missing — many led by mothers and widows — continue to demand accountability. Hundreds marched to the Chemmani site in August calling for independent international oversight after decades of stalled or inconclusive probes. "Where are our children?" protesters asked, clutching photos of relatives who disappeared during the fighting.

Individuals such as Sivapatham Elangkothai and Mary Ranjini Nirmalanathan shared accounts of family members rounded up or taken by soldiers and never seen again. Many relatives have filed affidavits and pursued legal avenues for years with little to show for their efforts. For some, the exhumations at Chemmani are a painful sign that answers may finally be possible.

Official responses and international concerns

The government says it is pursuing accountability through domestic mechanisms. Officials, including the justice and foreign ministers, have told international bodies that investigations are underway with judicial oversight and that the state is committed to finding the truth and delivering justice. The president has proposed a truth and reconciliation commission and an independent public prosecutor's office.

International rights groups and the UN have urged credible, transparent investigations and have attributed many wartime disappearances to state security forces and affiliated paramilitary groups. Amnesty International has estimated that up to 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared during the conflict. The UN human-rights office and others have criticized domestic commissions in the past for lacking independence and effectiveness.

The Office on Missing Persons (OMP), established in 2017 to determine the fate of those who disappeared, holds records of more than 23,000 cases but has been able to trace a small number of individuals. The UN has said the OMP's independence has been undermined by contested appointments, weakening trust among victims' families.

Allegations of intimidation

Relatives and activists say they face surveillance and harassment. UN observers noted ongoing patterns of intimidation against families of the disappeared, community leaders and civil-society actors. Journalists covering the exhumations have also been targeted: a freelance Tamil reporter who contributed to coverage of Chemmani was publicly accused by government representatives of criminal activity and has previously been questioned by investigators. Press freedom groups have called for an end to such harassment.

What’s next

Investigators have asked the courts for permission to widen the excavation area. Families and rights advocates continue to call for independent, international oversight, arguing domestic processes have repeatedly failed to deliver answers or accountability. For many relatives, the recovered remains are a painful confirmation of long-held fears — and a renewed plea for truth and justice.

Note on sources: This report draws on statements from relatives, court filings, reports by the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, public remarks by UN officials, and responses from Sri Lankan government representatives and investigative bodies.