Australian Senators demand int’l probe into Chemmanni mass graves

Australian Senators have issued calls for an international investigation into the mass graves in Chemmani, Jaffna, where forensic teams have exhumed more than 130 skeletal remains so far, Tamil Guardian reported on Tuesday (5)

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Raising the issue in Parliament last week, Senators David Shoebridge and Fatima Payman expressed solidarity with the Tamil community and urged the Australian government to back an internationally monitored investigation into war crimes committed during and after the armed conflict. Their intervention follows growing pressure from Tamil diaspora groups, who submitted a Joint Appeal on 16 July calling for action in light of the ongoing discoveries.

The Chemmani site, long suspected to conceal the remains of Tamil civilians disappeared during the 1990s, has once again captured global attention. Over the course of 45 days, court-appointed forensic teams uncovered a total of 135 skeletal remains so far. Among the remains were the bodies of children, accompanied by school items.