Report on investigation of Sri Lanka's mass grave to be presented to court

Sri Lanka's Marxist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) says the report on the investigation conducted into the skeletal remains unearthed from the Matale mass grave will be submitted to court on the 20th of this month.

JVP politburo member and parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake said the party was also awaiting the submission of the report to court on the findings of the mass grave in Matale where skeletal remains of over 150 people were unearthed.

According to the Consultant Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) of Matale Dr. Ajith Jayasena, skeletal remains of 154 people were found during excavations carried out from the 26th of November until the 12th of this month at the grave site in the premises of the Matale Hospital. Dissanayake has noted that preliminary investigations on the skeletal remains had found that the persons had been subjected to torture and belonging to the period of 1988-1989.

"The skeletons and skeletal remains have been identified as those of persons who had been subjected to various kinds of torture. Parts of metal wire wrapped around the bodies or inserted have also been found," Dissanayake has said.

According to him, the government should also take steps to carry out investigations to scientifically probe the period of the skeletal remains.

Sri Lankan authorities say that the excavations have been completed and some preliminary tests have been conducted on the remains but the systematic forensic investigations of the remains to identify the era of the dead and their identities are still ongoing.

Thursday 14 March 2013

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