> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Families of Disappeared Reject Chemmani Report and Call for International Inquiry - URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/families-of-disappeared-reject-chemmani-report-and-call-for-international-inquiry/ - Published: 2026-10-24T16:47:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T16:47:07.000Z - Author: Our Reporter - Tags: October 2026 **JAFFNA, Sri Lanka —** Families of people who disappeared during Sri Lanka’s civil war on Friday rejected an archaeologist’s report on the human remains recovered at Chemmani, in the north of the country, and announced a protest for next month to demand an international investigation. At a news conference at the Jaffna Press Club, representatives of associations of families of the forcibly disappeared said they would not accept the interim report that Professor Raj Somadeva of the University of Kelaniya submitted to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court this week. “We completely reject Professor Raj Somadeva’s report on the Chemmani mass grave,” they said. “An international investigation must be conducted.” The representatives said the report had been submitted without DNA testing or adequate archaeological and forensic examination. They also objected that it did not describe the site as a mass grave. Lawyers for affected families raised the same objection in a motion filed with the court on Thursday. The report, written by Professor Somadeva and his colleague Anusha Wanninayake, records at least 574 individuals recovered from the Sinthupathi Hindu cemetery at Chemmani. Nearly two-thirds of them were classified as infants or children. The report says the site more closely resembles a place of formal burial than the clandestine graves documented elsewhere in the world. It also says the evidence is insufficient to support a definitive conclusion. It contains no scientific dating of the remains, no DNA analysis, and no examination of the bones for injury or cause of death. The families’ representatives said 583 sets of remains had been recovered over 110 days of excavation, a figure that matches earlier reports from the site. The difference from the report’s count reflects its use of a minimum number of individuals. The representatives described the site as evidence of genocide against Tamils. They also accused Professor Somadeva of having brought earlier investigations to a close at Kokkuthoduvai, in Mullaitivu District, and at the Sathosa site in Mannar, both of which he worked on. They offered no evidence for that accusation. Their central demand was for international forensic specialists to take part in the excavation and the examination of the remains, with DNA testing under international oversight. They said genetic samples given by families searching for missing relatives should also be handled through an internationally supervised process. “We have consistently demanded international intervention in the excavation, the involvement of international experts and DNA testing by international forensic specialists,” they said. The protest is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Nov. 16\. The representatives called on residents of the Northern and Eastern provinces to join. “We will continue to struggle until international justice is delivered for Chemmani,” they said. Professor Somadeva has not publicly responded to the families’ statements. The report has drawn sharp criticism from Tamil politicians since it was submitted. Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil National People’s Front, has called Professor Somadeva a Sinhala nationalist with a political agenda and said he should not lead the excavation. Human remains surfaced at the cemetery in February 2025 during construction of a crematorium. Excavation has proceeded in phases under the supervision of the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court. The Criminal Investigation Department told the court in July that it had not established whether a crime had taken place, and it has asked that samples be sent abroad for carbon dating. Chemmani has been linked to wartime disappearances since 1998, when Lance Corporal Somaratne Rajapakse, who was convicted over the 1996 rape and murder of the schoolgirl Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, told a court that hundreds more bodies were buried in the area. Excavations in 1999 recovered 15 bodies. The court is due to review the excavation, Professor Somadeva’s report, and the request for carbon dating on Nov. 19.