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SRI LANKA: The Island of mass gravesThe following article was published as the editorial of the latest  issue of Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives

by Nilantha Ilangamuwa- June 3, 2014Sri Lanka is once again on the edge of a politicalcrucible in terms of its international relations as wellas in its domestic politics. he countr! is ignoringcalls for an independent and credible in"estigationinto alleged wartime atrocities while at the sametime carr!ing out atrocities against its own people.

#one of the elected or appointed officials ha"e beenable to fulfil e"en the basic re$uirements of theiroffices, but instead put all their efforts into finding

loopholes to escape the situation and to %ustif! what the! ha"e done.

&ass 'ra"es are not a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka as o"er 30 ( 40 mass gra"es,including potential sites, were found in Sri Lanka in last two decades. )n addition to themass gra"es of atrocities b! the state there are also man! mass gra"es in Sri Lankafor the "ictims of the *sian sunami which happened in +ecember 2004, and claimedo"er 3,000 li"es in the island nation. -owe"er, the ruling alliance engages in an ad

hoc based solution to a"oid %ustice, ignoring the concerns that mass gra"es gi"e riseto. onse$uentl!, some of relati"es of the "ictims/ famil! were intimidated b! thego"ernment securit! forces when the! approached the court accepting in$uiries intothe mass gra"es.

Since the earl! 10s, hundreds of thousands of people ha"e been killed b! thego"ernment and b! the non(state actors who led insurrections against the neo(feudalgo"ernmental apparatus in an attempt to reform societ!. -owe"er, the go"ernmentwas able to crackdown on the challenges to their rule while picking up those who wereengaged the cause and, sadl!, some of those who had nothing to do with the

insurrections. o eliminate the insurrections the go"ernment ordered mass killings ofthose who were picked up b! the militar! forces and its paramilitar! allies, and laterdumped some of their bodies round the countr! while others were burnt to death onthe countr! streets. his horrible truth has come to light with the disco"er! of the massgra"es of the "ictims of etra%udicial killings. +uring the last two !ears the countr! haslearned of two newl! disco"ered mass gra"es.

ne is in &atale, in the entral pro"ince and the second is in &annar in #orthpro"ince of the countr!. )n the latter case, where well o"er a hundred human skeletons

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were disco"ered, the go"ernment ma! ha"e influenced the eca"ation andin"estigations b! impeding the work of the professional forensic in"estigators. )t iswidel! belie"ed that the militar! commander of a certain regiment is responsible forthis crime against humanit!.

he latest result of the go"ernment/s denial of the right to life was the third resolution

on Sri Lanka adopted at the 5nited #ations -uman 6ights ommission in &arch2014, in which the go"ernment was urged to accept international assistance toconduct an independent in"estigation on the crimes reported during the last phase ofthe battle between the securit! forces and the Liberation igers of amil 7elam 8L79.he L7, which was fighting for a separate state within the island, was classified as aterrorist origination b! man! countries, including neighbouring )ndia. heir struggleended in &a! 200 when its leaders were killed b! go"ernment securit! forces.

+espite all the other crimes that were reported in the countr!/s recent histor!, the thirdresolution adopted b! the 5# human rights council drew its serious concern about the

crimes reported during the last phase of the war, which is indeed a necessar!de"elopment. &ost of the well(balanced criti$ues on the resolution come across as theend of sleep walking on the part of the international communit! regarding the gra"edestruction in Sri Lanka. )n other words, this is an attempt to counter the wellestablished polic! known as tr!ing to catch a fl! in a dark room.

-owe"er, challenges remain in the domestic political arena, especiall! regarding thearbitrariness of go"ernment polic! which tends to a"oid fulfilling the basicre$uirements for %ustice. )nstead of totall! destro!ing the s!stem of the institutions of

 %ustice,  the! simpl! distorted them and appointed close allies to manipulate the

process. his makes for a greater confusion among the people as well as theinternational communit!. hrough all this the people still belie"e that the! ha"e theabilit! to achie"e democratic rule, %ustice, and freedom, which the! belie"e will be ableto protect their basic rights. :ut in realit! this is an illusion. ;erhaps this deliberateparal!<ing of the countr!/s criminal %ustice s!stem and other state institutions was awell(designed plan b! the, to keep their power and pre"ent the people from obtaining

 %ustice b! undermining the basic rights of the people.

&elanie =linkner, senior lecturer in Law at :ournemouth 5ni"ersit!, has briefl! outlinedthe mass gra"es in"estigations for )nternational criminal proceedings. She has

conducted in"estigations on mass gra"es and her research publications to date focuson the interpla! of international criminal law and forensic science.

“Mass grave excavations have also the potential to fulfil important humanitariangoals that go well beyond prosecutorial needs. In the aftermath of gross humanrights violations, evidence from the field suggests that information as to whathappened and how is happened, fulfils a very important need of families andsurvivors. In fact, this need to know the truth is vital and may have primacy overwanting justice; the desire for justice may follow on from knowing the truth.

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Though it should also be noted, that learning and knowing the truth can havecomplex and unpredictable effects on the individual and may exacerbate strainsbetween the individual, the past and society. In any event, mass graveinvestigation need to be mindful of the psychosocial ramification they have onthe survivor population and on relatives of the missing. Investigations of massgraves for criminal purposes need to ensure that they form the first step in a

continued effort to provide families with information, identification and return thehuman remains,! =linkner pointed out in an article written for our maga<ine.

)t is time for the 'o"ernment of Sri Lanka to take up this issue as one of their prioritiesto help the relati"es of the "ictims find %ustice. >e appreciate the go"ernment/s recentannouncement addressing the conduct of the in"estigation, but it should not be a partof the same hide and seek game which the go"ernment has engaged in during lastfew decades to co"er(up their crimes against humanit!. here are local forensicofficials who are able conduct independent in"estigations if the go"ernment or theinternational communit! is willing to arrange the re$uired facilities.

Sri Lanka is indeed an )sland of mass gra"es. *nd toda!, Sri Lanka is undergoingtremendous uphea"al and chaotic social disorder, where the basic re$uirements of

 %ustice ha"e been denied and replaced with political "ulgarism and religiousintolerance with the help of the ruling part! and militar!. his continues to be a ma%orchallenge to o"ercome in conducting an authentic in"estigation procedure on not onl!the mass gra"es, but the crimes reported in the countr!/s recent past as well. he "er!reason the go"ernment wishes to a"oid the in"estigation is because those whocommitted the crimes are now ke! members of the go"ernment. )n this dire situation,the people in general, as well as the international communit!, ha"e a role to pla! and a

responsibilit! to find %ustice for those who were buried en masse throughout the histor!of the island nation.

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Graphic: Mass graves in postindependence "ri #anka were first reported followingthe $%&$ youth uprising led by the 'eoples #iberation (ront )known locally as *+'which was brutally terminated by the then government. -owever the locations of these

 post $%&$ mass graves are hidden from the public knowledge and hence they are notrepresented in the above map. umerous mass graves have been clandestinelycreated by the "ri #ankan government during the second youth uprising led by thesame political party in the $%/&$%%0 period and locations of these gravesites areillustrated in the map. +irtually all mass graves reported in the northern and eastern

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 provinces of the country were resulted from the thirty year long civil war between the#TT1 and the ruling governments which ended in 200% and said to have contained theremains of minority Tamil speaking people died during the war.

Clic here to read the online version of the issue!Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives is a bimonthly maga3ine which

focuses on torture and its related issues globally. 4riters interested in havingtheir research on this subject published, may submit their articlestotorturemag5ahrc.asia

6 6 6  About A"#C 7 The 8sian -uman 9ights :ommission is a regional nongovernmentalorganisation that monitors human rights in 8sia, documents violations and advocatesfor justice and institutional reform to ensure the protection and promotion of theserights. The -ong ongbased group was founded in $%/<.