Kemmani, Sri Lanka (AP) – Baby bottles, creaking toys and school bags are one of the items that emerged from popular cemeteries in Sri Lanka’s previous war-torn northern regions, and are human skeletal structures that look like children of different ages with 141 human skeletal structures.
The findings were conducted at a crematorium in the Kemmani region near the town of Jaffna, the cultural centre of the country’s Tamil ethnic minority. However, Hindus are rarely buried here, as they cremate the dead, mainly according to religious practices.
Excavations have been underway since June after workers dug into building an electric crematorium and found human remains.
A nine-day pit test revealed 19 sets of human remains. A shallow burial of about 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) in a scattered, confused way, and absent clothes indicated the site was a mass grave, according to a report provided to the court in June.
The numbers identify human skeletons excavated from the mass graves of Chemmani, Sri Lanka on August 5, 2025 (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
A total of 141 skeletons were found within the 165 square meters (1,776 square feet) area as the month was set aside and the crime scene was declared. Approximately 135 people had no clothes on their bodies, and only one set of adult clothing was identified. Tests confirmed that the skeleton found in the school bag was a skeleton for a girl between four and six years old. Toddler dresses, socks and footwear, small beaded bangles and baby powder trays were also collected.
The identity of the dead and the cause and timing of their deaths are all unknown. However, many believe it could be civilians who disappeared during the Sri Lanka civil war that broke out between government forces and Tamil rebels who fought in 1983 to create an independent home for government forces and minority groups. The war ended in 2009.
Several Tamil armed groups and Indian peacekeeping missions have been active in the region for decades. However, as a gateway to Jaffna’s town, attention is being drawn to the Sri Lankan army, which has had a strong presence in Kemmani for over a decade.
A confession from decades ago raises doubt
A confession made by an army soldier before he was sentenced to death for rape and murder 27 years ago, strengthened suspicions about the site.
In 1998, Somaratne Rajapakse, along with four accomplices from the military and police, was sentenced to death for gang rape and murder of female students, as well as murder of her mother, brother and neighbor.
The five who remained in prison, not hanging due to the suspension of executions, allegedly they were not involved in rape or murder, but only disposed of the bodies under orders.
Rajapaks told the court that he knows where up to 400 bodies are buried in Kanmani.
“We can’t say exactly who the perpetrator is yet, but the fingers point to the (province) military forces,” said Brito Fernando, an activist who works with the families of those who disappeared in various armed conflicts in Sri Lanka.
The area, which includes the crematorium, was under Sri Lanka’s military control from 1996 when it captured Jaffna from rebels and after the war ended. The military ran checkpoints and anyone who entered or left the area was searched.
In 1999, Rajapaks led the police to show the police elsewhere, where the schoolgirl, her family and neighbor were buried and further artefacts were later found. However, the investigation suddenly stopped.
Magistrate Amarabalan Anandarahja Centre will inspect a mass cemetery in Kemmani, Sri Lanka on August 5, 2025 (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Family is asking for closure
Items found on this site were released earlier this month, hoping that the owner would be identified, and many people from surrounding villages and beyond visited the site.
Mary Carista of Amaranathan, whose husband is missing when the military arrested him in the village in 1996, said she hopes to see evidence that her husband has died brings a sense of closure.
“I went there because I wanted to at least see his clothes. There was a salon (wearing waists), but it wasn’t my husband’s. He was wearing a blue salon at the time, which was a shame,” she said.
“I just saw the clothes of the little ones,” she cried.
She said her husband is among the 24 people who did not return home after the army searched their village. The family tried to stop the army vehicles from robbing people in custody, but authorities said the guns and vehicles quickly pushed them away.
“My wish is that he should come back alive, but if he doesn’t, we can’t do anything,” she said.
“The state army has arrested him. They have to arrest him and say he died at their hands. They have to pay compensation to us as well,” she said.
The woman recalls the military taking away her brother and husband
Shivanathan Selvamara said he saw his brother being loaded into a military truck blindfolded during the same raid. A few years later, in 2009, her husband was also detained at checkpoint. He called her to tell her that he was arrested and never heard of it again.
“We went to see things. They thought they might have buried people who were arrested in the area, but only saw the things of the little ones,” she said.
“We checked all the prisons, but we haven’t found them. When we were told that over 100 skeletons were dug, we are afraid of the worst,” she added.
No children are listed in the missing person report
A 2003 report by the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission said it investigated 281 complaints of missing persons between 1990 and 1998. Three of these were found in prison and later released, while the rest have not yet been recorded. The report said the military was responsible for 243 cases and the Tamil Tiger Rebels were responsible for 25. The liability of the other 10 people is unknown.
No children were listed as missing.
At the time, Nade Sapillai Vithyatharan, the only newspaper editor in the area, said several families returned to Jaffna after the military moved and the rebels fled.
Pictures from the wedding of Sri Lankan ethnic Tamils Sanmugamsatunalatha and Ranjanidevi are placed next to a certificate issued by their missing husband on August 6, 2025 at their home in Manippai, Sri Lanka.
DNA analysis call
Previous investigations were stuck, but there is hope that the victims will be identified, Fernando said. However, he said the government must do more to carry out credible investigations.
“There are no appropriate guidelines for investigating mass graves, and no DNA banks will support identification,” Fernando said, adding that the government should fund DNA banks and seek international support in identifying victims.
“Only a proper government investigation can free the military from doubt,” he said.
A direct investigation into the military will likely anger Sri Lankan nationalists. Many of the majority of ethnic Sinhalese people praise the army for winning the civil war.
The excavation lasts another 8 weeks
Underground invasion radars in other parts of the crematorium show “soil abnormalities…”, which show comparable density of buried skeletal ruins, according to a report filed last week in Jaffna Courthouse.
The scanned area is three times larger than the excavated site, said Ranitha Gnanarajah, an attorney who monitors the process. Investigators requested court approval to continue the excavation for another eight weeks, she said.
Army spokesman Brigg. Waruna Gamage said no one officially condemned responsibility for the masses’ graves, and he said if they would, they would need to show evidence.
“The excavation is still ongoing and it’s a civil matter belonging to the police and the courts,” Gammage said. “We respect the laws of the country.”
Government forces and rebels have been accused of committing the atrocities associated with war crimes in the months leading up to the end of the 2009 civil war.
