A prominent human rights lawyer in the island has revealed that Sri Lanka’s government has directly and indirectly interfered with the excavations of the Chemmani mass grave in Jaffna, which has been declared a crime scene by the court.
The Centre for Human Rights and Development’s (CHRD) Executive Director, K. S. Ratnavel, pointed out that ‘with or without the knowledge of Justice Minister attorney Harshana Nanayakkara’, the Justice Ministry Secretary had attempted to interfere in the excavation activities.
“The minister in charge of justice and law, Nanayakkara, speaks in parliament. He gives interviews. Alright. But, unknown to him – I do not know whether he has knowledge or not – there have been attempts to interfere.”
The senior attorney made these remarks while speaking at a discussion forum held at the Guru Medura hall in Colombo on 20 August.
The discussion, titled “Chemmani’s Present, Justice and Politics”, had been organized by the People’s Power for Justice.
The discussion was also addressed by Tamil National People’s Front’s attorney Nadarajar Kandeepan.
Attorney Ratnavel revealed that even though the Justice Ministry Secretary had contacted an expert engaged in excavating the Chemmani mass grave and tried to give certain advice, or guidance, he had declined to speak to her. Although she attempted to contact police officers, they too were not very willing to comply with her instructions, he alleged.
“So, there has been an attempt to interfere with these proceedings in a way that the government wishes; maybe to go slow on that. We do not know what the intention is.”
President’s Counsel Ayesha Jinasena serves as the Secretary to the Ministry of Justice and National Integration.
The person who had attempted that had already been involved in the proceedings during the first stage of the Chemmani mass grave excavation carried out in 2001.
Pointing out this official as a person who had previously intervened in the excavations, Ratnavel revealed that when the halted investigations into the mass grave were first conducted in 2001, she had been engaged in the process representing the Attorney General’s Department.
“There was a court hearing and excavations (were) done. The same person had been there on behalf of the Attorney General’s Department. After a few days of excavations and after the discovery of about 15 skeletons, the matter was stopped there,” he said.
After continuing excavation activities of the second phase for 32 days, excavations were temporarily halted on 6 August in a bid to give the excavation team a break.
By then, excavations had led to the discovery of 150 human skeletons, including those of children. They have been presented to the court. The excavation activities at the Chemmani mass grave resumed on 25 August.
Attending a chat show on a private television channel, Justice Minister Nanayakkara recently revealed that 17 mass graves have been found in Sri Lanka so far. The minister also named some of them.
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