Sunday, 29th June 2014
By Binoy Suriarachchi
With investigations still continuing into the Matale and Mannar mass graves, focus has now shifted to yet another grave which the Police claim, based on information they have received, contains the bodies of over 100 Muslims killed by the LTTE.
In an effort to support disclosure regarding missing persons in Sri Lanka during the three-decade long war, the authorities are now in the process of excavating the grave.
The Magistrate Court in Kaththankudi had recently ordered the authorities to commence the excavation of the alleged site of the mass grave on July 1. The excavation of the site will be carried out in the presence of the Kaththankudi Additional Magistrate.
The Presidential Commission Regarding Missing Persons (PCRMP) during a public sitting held in Kaththankudi had also recorded statements from 110 persons who are relatives of the deceased in the mass execution.
The witnesses have alleged that the LTTE killed their relatives who were travelling from Kalmunai to Kaththankudi in cold blood on several occasions before dumping their bodies in a mass grave, sources from the PCRMP said.
The PCRMP commenced preliminary investigations into the mass grave allegations based on a report submitted to the Commission by Deputy Minister M. L. A. M. Hizbullah on behalf of the family members of the deceased.
“The PCRMP decided to hold a public sitting in the Kaththankudi Divisional Secretariat in the presence of Commission members including former Judge Maxwell Paranagama, Ms Dimingu Vidyaratne and Ms Mano Ramanathan, specifically to obtain oral evidence in relation to the massacre in 1990,” T.R. Kelly, a Coordinator attached to the PCRMP said.
According to Kelly, 110 persons gave evidence in connection to the incident stating that their relatives went missing and never returned home after the massacre in June 1990.
“The PCRMP informed the Muslim community that this case should ultimately be dealt with by the judiciary. The Commission will take up the matter with the Attorney General’s Department to initiate secondary level inquiries and obtain further information and relevant steps will be taken depending on the outcome,” said Kelly.
The PCRMP has also held discussions with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to carry out DNA tests on the remains. “In the first place, it is significant to identify whether these are the remains of those people massacred in 1990. Then measures will be taken to obtain aid from the UNDP to carry out the DNA tests,” he added.
The Court issued the order on June 23 following an affidavit filled at the Kaththankudi Magistrate Court by Abdul Majeed Mohammed who lost his loved ones in the massacre. He had also lodged a complaint with the Kaththankudi Police in this regard on April 9.
The complainant had stated that the LTTE had abducted and massacred at least 160 Muslims who were the residents in and around Kaththankudi on several occasions on or near the date of June 12, 1990.
The Police preliminary inquiries disclosed that the mass gravesite is located somewhere in the coastal area of Kurukkalmadam. Police Spokesperson SSP Ajith Rohana told The Sunday Leader that a group of Police officers have been deployed on the Kurukkalmadam beach in order to provide security in the area where they suppose the mass grave is located.
From : http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2014/06/29/another-mass-grave-another-investigation/
