By former Lance Corporal, prisoner Somaratne Rajapaksa.
With 141 human remains discovered in the recently discovered and excavated Chemmani Sidhupathi mass grave, death row prisoner Somaratne Rajapaksa has made important revelations regarding the arrests, killings and burial sites that took place between Chemmani Camp and Thundi Camp in 1996. The first part of his revelations is as follows:
‘I hereby disclose the murder of Krishanthi Coomaraswamy and the Chemmani massacre. In addition to the letter sent to the President on July 9th, I am making this disclosure so that the entire Tamil people, including the people of Jaffna, can clearly understand the facts.
The letter sent to the President through my wife was published on the front page of the ‘Veerakesari’ newspaper on the 3rd August. I hereby inform the people of Jaffna that all the things mentioned in that letter are true. I promise the entire Tamil people that I am ready to testify with important evidence beyond Chemmani, in addition to the things mentioned in it.
When my statements on Chemmani were made during the trial held at the Colombo High Court in 1998, they were not accepted by the court. However, God and nature have proven that they are true. After I was sentenced to death in 1998, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga had sent me a letter through former Minister Jayaraj Fernandopulle, through an officer named Namal Bandara, a prison officer, regarding my statement. The letter was written by the Minister himself. The letter stated that what I had said in the High Court was said in anger and that I should withdraw it. After I read the letter, when I took steps to hand it over to the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, the officer told me to read the letter and return it. When I refused to return the letter, he and a group of officers brutally attacked me and tried to kill me. However, the attempt failed due to the intervention of other prisoners there. Although the Human Rights Commission had filed a case against those officers, I do not know what happened to them.
When I met Kumar Ponnambalam in Bogambara Prison in 1999, I told him the things I had mentioned in the letter I had sent to the President on July 9th. He then told me, ‘Don’t be afraid. I will go to the United Nations and make you a witness in the Chemmani case instead.’ When I went to show this mass grave in 1999, Kumar Ponnambalam was not given permission to travel to Jaffna by air to appear on my behalf. He was then suddenly assassinated. The condolence message sent by the then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga following his death was dated the day before Kumar Ponnambalam was assassinated. This matter was widely reported in the media at the time. This makes it clear that the President had written the condolence message before Kumar Ponnambalam was assassinated.
In 1999, when I exposed the locations of human graves, I gave up after revealing only a few because I was told that I should not reveal them and that the President was ready to pardon me. Many additional details regarding this matter are stated in the letter sent to the President.
I inform the people of Jaffna with great regret that the then Defense Secretary and Chandrika were aware that torture chambers were being operated not only in Semmani in Jaffna but also in the camps established in Jaffna from the Balasena Headquarters by 1996. The 7th Sri Lanka Army Infantry, located at Ariayalei, arrested people at all the checkpoints from Chemmani to Thundi Camp and the bodies of those who died in the torture chambers of the 7th Army Infantry at Camp C3 were taken to an area known as Maniyam Thottam and buried there. This was an area outside the areas under military camp. Although I do not know exactly where the bodies were buried, I can tell you that I know the area (Maniyam Thottam) very well. In addition, the main arrests were made at Chemmani and those who could not be arrested there were arrested at other checkpoints.
To be continued.
( Translation of an article published by Veerakeasai newspaper on 17 August 2025)