The second excavation phase of the Chemmani mass grave in northern Jaffna resumed on July 21, unearthing dozens more skeletons and bringing the overall total over 100.

A mass grave containing human bone fragments was first discovered on February 20 at Sittupatthu cemetery in Chemmani on the outskirts of Jaffna with excavations beginning on May 15. It was another chilling reminder of the country’s brutal 26-year civil war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The war, which ended in May 2009 with the defeat of the LTTE, claimed the lives of an estimated 100,000 people with thousands—mainly ethnic Tamils in the North and East—forcibly disappeared.

Eighty-one skeletons were exhumed in the first phase of excavation—37 complete skeletons, including three infants under 10 months, along with clothing, a toy, slippers and a school bag. It was Chemmani’s second mass grave.

In 1999, 15 skeletons were exhumed after a soldier—who had been convicted by the higher courts for raping and killing a 15-year-old schoolgirl and murdering her family—confessed to participating in military torture and the execution of alleged LTTE suspects in 1995–96.

Like the first phase, the second excavation uncovered shocking evidence, including an infant’s skeleton with a feeding bottle, socks, and a bangle—grim signs that the military murdered entire families in the name of “eradicating terrorism.”

On July 20, a group of landmine clearance workers discovered human remains in eastern Sampur Muthur, Trincomalee District, which has been a military High Security Zone since the war. Acting Magistrate H.M. Fowzen visited the site and ordered further excavation to recover the remains.

This adds to a growing list of mass graves uncovered since 2013, including sites in Batticaloa and Thirukketheeswaram in Mannar, Sathosa and in Mannar city in 2018, Kokkuththoduvai in Mullaitivu in 2021, and at Kaluvanchikudi.

Sri Lankan Sinhala racists are acutely nervous about exhuming mass graves. Attempting to justify the massacres and mass graves as an inevitable outcome of the communal war, Udaya Gammanpila, Pvithuru Hela Urumaya leader and former minister, told the media: “The North is war-ravaged so mass graves will appear anywhere. Digging them up and commenting [on them] is pointless and a waste of money.”

Sri Lankan Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara, told the Hindu that, because many people from the North and East had voted for the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power, “We have a bigger responsibility in fulfilling their aspirations, looking after their wellbeing.”

This claim is hypocritical. The JVP, which fully backed the war until its end, denied there were any war crimes during the bloody military operations. It has proposed a phony Truth Commission to “investigate” the disappearances and to pay meagre compensation to the victims’ families.

World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) reporters recently spoke with relatives of the “missing.” Many have spent decades searching for their loved ones and demanding the prosecution of the war criminals responsible.

Rasalingam Thulasimalar, a resident of Vaddukoddai, Araly, said: “Whenever these graves are discovered, our hearts suffer. We yearn to know what happened to my child who we believe is still alive. My child was taken away by the EPDP [Eelam People’s Democratic Party, a Tamil-based party that also operated as a pro-government paramilitary]. I found a person who was taken away to the EPDP camp but when I met EPDP leader, Douglas Devananda, he gave no answer.”

Thulasimalar explained that her husband fell ill and died from the stress of searching for their son. She criticised the Tamil parties for dragging them to protests demanding help from the so-called international community.

“Those international countries have done nothing for us,” the weeping mother told the WSWS. “That’s why I’m not participating in any protests now. We are waiting for someone to bring our children back.”

Thiruneelakandan Sinnakili, 62, from Murasumottai, Kilinochchi, has been searching for her husband and son—Muthaiah Thiruneelakandan (68) and Kendrakumar (23)—who were taken away by the military during the final phase of the war in May 2009.

Recalling the horrors of those days, Sinnakili said, “While thousands were dying, relatives were running to save themselves. No one could help others.”She has been trying for the past 16 years to find traces of her husband and son, but her efforts have all been in vain.

“I lodged complaints with many organisations, including the Human Rights Council, but got no solution. I have participated in all the protests by the Relatives of the Forcibly Disappeared, but it is useless,” she said.

Because the rest of Sinnakili’s children are married, she, like many other women from the North and East, is forced to live alone. Although Sinnakili was a beneficiary of the government’s limited Aswesuma welfare program, she has not received the subsidy this month.

“On the issue of missing persons, this government is the same as all the previous ones. The mass graves now being discovered only add to our fears,” she said.

Sanmugam Sellamuththu, 76, from Karainagar, a small island about 20 km from Jaffna, recalled painful memories of her disappeared son, Sakthivel, an 18-year-old student.

Sellamuththu’s family fled to Moolai in April 1991, after the Premadasa government launched a major offensive against LTTE-controlled Karainagar. Her son Sakthivel came back to fetch his uncle and aunt but never returned again. His uncle later confirmed the army arrested Sakthivel and other youth.

The grieving parents searched desperately for their son, visiting many places, including all the army camps in the North. “His father, my husband, also died while searching for him. The army took away my son—my only boy among three girls—but they still say they didn’t arrest him. Many people told us they witnessed young people being shot by the Sri Lankan army,” she said.

Ilayathampy Nageshawary (68) and her husband, along with their five children, fled from Uri, Karainagar, then under Sri Lankan Navy control, in 2006 after navy personnel hacked a Tamil worker to death.

The family went to the Vanni in the Northern Province, which was under LTTE control at the time. One of their young sons disappeared during the final stage of the war in 2009.

Like other families of the “missing,” they have conducted a fruitless search for their son and brother. “We only know that the army took him away,” Nageshawary said, and said protest appeals to government authorities were futile.

Despite this horrific situation, Tamil bourgeois parties, like the Tamil National People’s Front and the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, show little concern for these tragedies but instead try to exploit the victims’ plight for their own political gain.

Aiyampillai Luxshmanan (50) was outraged when he heard about the Chemmani mass grave. “The discovery of the skeletons of women and children, even infants, confirms that people were killed there, even whole families, and simply buried,” he said.

Luxshmanan recalled his own horrific experiences. His brother Ayampillai Jayakumar, who had no connection with the Tamil political movement, was 38-years old and had three children—his youngest daughter six months old at the time—when he disappeared. His brother and his friend disappeared in Mullaitivu in 2009, during the last days of the war.

“All the relatives believe that their children are alive, though there is no evidence, which is why they are fighting for it. But the Tamil politicians are exploiting the anger of these people to keep their political power and privileges,” he continued.

“They are demanding the ‘international community’ intervene and resolve this issue. In fact, they want to build their relations with these powers for their own interests. Their ‘international community’ is America and the European countries, and India, but they are international war criminals, aren’t they?

“It is with their support that the massacre of Palestinians is occurring in Gaza today. Children and young people are being killed. Thousands are starving to death. America is supporting these crimes,” he said. Luxshmanan also accused the Tamil political leaders in Sri Lanka of turning a blind eye and remaining silent about the massacres in Gaza.