News and events

Mannar mass grave- no end to the excavation process

2018-10-12

The excavation process taking place in Mannar is continuing on its 84th day as of October 12, 2018. The excavation process is taking place in the ‘Lanka Sathosa’ compound as well as in the already excavated earth which is closer to the entrance to Mannar town.

There have been 175 human skeletal remains have been identified till date, out of which 169 remains have been removed from the excavation site, packed and handed over to Mannar Magistrate court. Within the identified human skeletal remains there were many skeletal remains of children and many skeletal remains of women too.

Attorney at law Ranitha Gnanarajah, V.S. Niranchan and K.S. Ratnavale, Senior Counsel and Director of CHRD as well as field officers of CHRD visit the excavation site often to express solidarity.

Excavation is being carried out by various groups which comprises a team of judicial medical officers which is led by consultant Judicial Medical Officer A.S. Rajapaksha as well as a team of forensic archeologists led by Professor Raj Somadeva of Kelaniya University.

Skeletal remains are being planned to be sent to Florida for carbon dating, this decision is still pending in the Mannar Magistrate court. However, many raise doubts regarding this decision due to past experiences of the remains of Matala mass grave where the cases have come to a standstill and no results obtained.