In 1998, allegations of mass graves at Chemmani were made by a Sri Lankan soldier on trial for rape and murder. He claimed hundreds of people who disappeared from the Jaffna peninsula after it was retaken by Government troops from the LTTE in 1995 and 1996 were killed and buried in mass graves near the village of Chemmani. There are reports about 300 to 400 bodies being buried there.[1]
Internationally observed excavations in 1999 found 15 bodies, two of which were identified as men who had disappeared in 1996.[2]
The findings led to charges against seven military personnel. The number of bodies exhumed is far less than the number originally alleged, and the Sri Lankan government stated that the local and foreign investigators found no graves as originally alleged and that there was no evidence of grave tampering either.[3] Seven years later, the investigation remained open, but no further bodies have been found at Chemanni.[4]
^"'300 to 400 bodies have been buried'". TamilNet. 6 July 1998. Retrieved 11 January 2008.
^Cite error: The named reference USDOS 20040225 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"No mass graves in Chemmani" (Press release). Official Web Site of the Government of Sri Lanka. 21 December 1999. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
^"'No instructions on Chemmani' CID". BBC Sinhala. 4 January 2006.
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