Chemmani cover up suspected

[TamilNet, Friday, 08 January 1999, 20:05 GMT]
Jaffna district judge, A.E Ekanaathan, today told the Sri Lankan Criminial Investigation Division (CID) Superintendant of Police, Nanda Munasinghe, that a soil expert has to examine the site of the alleged mass grave in Chemmani in Jaffna before excavation could begin.

The CID Superintendant moved yesterday a motion in court seeking an order to bring two analysts from Colombo and the Ruhuna University to begin excavation at the site of the mass grave of Chemmani in Jaffna.

The judge, commenting on the motion filed by the CID, said that the mass grave is now three years old and that the area is presently under water due to the heavy monsoon rains.

Therefore judge said that he will issue an order to the CID to bring the forensic expert from the government analyst's department and an analyst from the Ruhuna University only after seeing the report of a soil expert who examines the Chemmani mass grave site.

Mr.A.E Ekanathan then postponed the case until the 29th of this month.

The decision of the judge today come in the wake of reports that the Sri Lankan government is secretly destroying evidence at the mass grave site.

A columnist with the Colombo English weekly 'The Sunday Leader' hinted last week that the CID might be involved in the 'cover up'.

The present flooding in the area is a convenient excuse to confound the evidence said a legal source in Jaffna this afternoon, remarking on the decicison of the judge.

The CID might have its way if there is a pilant judge the source said.

The PA regime has come under increasing pressure internationally and from Tamil lobbies in recent times for dragging its feet on investigating the Chemmani graves.

The present commander of the Sri Lankan Army, Lt.Gen.Sri Lal Weerasooriya was in charge of Jaffna when the more than six hundred civilians went missing after being arrested by the army and when many of them were allegedly buried at Chemmani.

The government, according to Tamil political observers in Colombo, wants to show that it has come clean of the Chemmani grave issue by doing a mock investigation with the connivance of some high officials in the CID because it is anxious again to secure Tamil votes in elections to Parliament which are scheduled to be held early next year.

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