The Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, thank you for allowing my questions to the Hon. Minister of Justice and National Integration, Harshana Nanayakkara, under Standing Order 27(2).

¶ 02 For over 30 years leading up to 2010, due to the Tamil armed conflict, many were killed or disappeared. Their skeletal remains have been recovered from mass graves such as at Chemmani near St. Thomas’ Church, Thiruketheeswaram, Kumuzhamunai in Mullaitivu, Kokkuthoduvai and others. Now, skeletal remains have also been recovered from Chemmani, Sinnaththoppu area in Jaffna. It is evident these are largely of Tamil civilians.

¶ 03 Particularly, in the excavations near the Sinnaththoppu cemetery, infants, girls, boys, women and men — without any clothing — bearing marks of beating and torture have been recovered, as stated by forensic experts and the judiciary. Thus, the North and East are marked by mass graves. Does the Hon. Minister acknowledge this?

¶ 04 1. Regarding the human skeletal remains being exhumed near the Hindu cemetery at Chemmani Sinnaththoppu in Jaffna, will an impartial and just investigation be conducted to reveal the truth?

¶ 05 2. Have the excavation works at the Mullaitivu Kokkuthoduvai mass grave been completed, and what judicial steps have been undertaken in that regard?

¶ 06 3. Regarding the Mandaitivu, Sembaddu Thottam near St. Thomas’ Church mass grave, human rights organizations state that in the 1990s, boys and youths taken from Velanai, Mankumban and Allaipitty were buried there. Will investigations be conducted?

¶ 07 4. A mother, Mrs. Susaidas Yesurathnam Dharmarani of Mandaitivu Third Ward, wrote to the President on 30.04.2025, also copying me, seeking justice regarding her two children disappeared in Mandaitivu. What is the Minister’s response to mothers still waiting to know what happened to their children?

¶ 08 5. The exhumation identified at Thiruketheeswaram has been kept in abeyance. What is the status, and when will the truth be revealed?