Tamil mothers oppose closing down mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai as ‘cover-up’

Siva Parameswaran

War-affected Tamil mothers in all five districts of Northern Sri Lanka have opposed the closure of the island nation’s latest found mass grave in the coastal district of Mullaitivu which bore the brunt of the brutality during the final phase of the war which came to a bloody end in May 2009.

The untiring mothers-led protest into its 8th year, who are seeking justice for the alleged war crimes and accountability for those who are victims of enforced disappearances by the state, have strongly opposed the closing down of the mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai based on a court order. The grieving Tamil mothers seek to know the truth behind the mass grave.

A massive protest was staged by the Association for the Relatives of the Enforced Disappearances (ARED) in the North and East Provinces, a civil society group created to search for the tens of thousands of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s armed conflict, against the closure of the Kokkuthodivai mass grave and suspect the closure as a cover up.

During the exhumation of the accidentally found mass grave in Kokkuthoduvai 52 skeletons and body parts were recovered in an operation that lasted little over a year.

Representatives of the ARED along with local Tamil representatives gathered at the site of the Mullaitivu-Kokkuthoduvai mass grave the excavation of which was brought to an end on the 15th of July 2024 and staged a protest on 20th August and demanded in unison an international inquiry into all the mass graves found in Sri Lanka’s North and East.

At the protest, Mariasuresh Eswary, President of the ARED in Mullaitivu recalled justice has not been rendered in respect of the four mass graves found in the North and emphasized accountability should be ensured and justice rendered for those buried in the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave irrespective of whose remains were found there.

“Four mass graves similar to Kokkuthoduvai were found. Despite evidence being available regarding all four, nothing has happened to date. We can’t accept a ruling given in haste. Justice should be rendered and accountability ensured irrespective of whether they are our relatives or LTTE cadres. Their lives are invaluable”.

She also accused the Office for the Missing Persons (OMP) in Sri Lanka of intimidating them into accepting the death certificates for those who have disappeared for a long when they demand justice and accountability for them. She further questioned the credibility of the OMP in rendering justice for those buried in the mass graves.

“Our question is how will the OMP which is acting against those who are victims of enforced disappearances render justice and also we don’t know why the international community is recognizing and respecting them”.

The head of the OMP, Attorney Mahesh Katulanda had earlier told local journalists they look forward to further process and examinations to find if the exhumed body parts from the now closed mass grave belong to those who were victims of enforced disappearances.

At the protest near the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, they raised slogans demanding an international inquiry into the findings at the mass graves in the North. Tamil politicians joined the mothers who were carrying placards demanding an international inquiry and accountability.

“We need an international inquiry into the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave, Mannar mass grave, Thiruketheeswaram mass grave, and the Jaffna mass grave -International inquiry is needed for all of these mass graves. The military should be held accountable”.

Tamil mothers from every district in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province were joined by senior Tamil MP from Jaffna and General Secretary of the Tamil People’s National Front Selvarasa Kajendran and Thurairasa Raviharan former member of the Northern Provincial Council along with the public and civil society members.

Participating in the protest, Sivananthan Jenita, President of the ARED in Vavuniya demanded the investigations into the skeletons exhumed from the mass graved to determine the period of burial based on the clothing discovered along with the human remains.

“Despite so many mass graves being found, the government keeps on saying it is many years old. If even the clothes in this mass grave have not decomposed, then we should think about how long the clothing will remain not being decomposed. Hence, investigations could be done based on the clothes found here. But they are trying to cover up and close the mass grave although pieces of evidence were available”.

Sivananathan Jenita further emphasized strongly, that international intervention is needed to find out and identify the persons buried in the mass grave and exhumed subsequently as skeletons.

“DNA testing should be done. None know who were buried there. In such a situation our question is who were buried there? We can’t say who they could be. So we request the international community to intervene and undertake investigations and find it out. We totally reject any internal mechanism. We demand an international mechanism to ensure accountability for those who disappeared. Even concerning mass graves, international inquiry should be done”.

Speaking to journalists after the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave case was heard at the Mullaitivu Magistrate Court on the 8th of August before Magistrate Dharmalingam Piratheepan, Judicial Medical Officer of Mullaitivu (JMO) said they are looking forward to finding out the sex, age, height, and details of the injuries among others through the forensic investigations.

“Out of the exhumed skeletons, 25 have been sent to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital’s forensic examination department and investigations took place for two days from the 2nd of August this year. The investigations will continue in the coming weeks. The JMO’s complete reports are expected in six months”.

In a report submitted to the court earlier, Prof. Raj Somadeva, the lead forensic archaeologist had concluded that the skeletons exhumed from the mass grave are that of the female cadres of the LTTE who have been unceremoniously buried between 1994-96. His interim report on the Kokkuthoduvai mass grave to the court was submitted in February 2024.

He was certain that those buried in the mass grave had been shot dead.

Body parts of former LTTE cadres were accidentally found by the staff of the water supplies department at the end of June 2023 while water supply pipelines were being in Kokkuthoduvai, about 200 meters from the Kokkuththoduvai school. Along with body parts bits of clothes worn by those buried there were also found.