On the 30th anniversary of the Kumarapuram Massacre, the people of Kumarapuram — survivors, families of victims, civil society groups, youth, activists, and community leaders — have renewed their collective demand for justice. The massacre occurred on 11 February 1996 in Kumarapuram village in Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee District, where 26 Tamil civilians, including women and children, were murdered, many others were injured, and homes were burned in a brutal attack carried out by members of the Sri Lankan Army.
For decades, survivors have maintained that the domestic judicial process failed them. Although villagers identified the perpetrators during proceedings in Muttur and Anuradhapura, the courts offered no protection to witnesses, forced them to travel under dangerous wartime conditions, and ultimately acquitted the accused soldiers after nearly 20 years of testimony. The community describes the trial as intentionally designed to shield state forces from accountability — a process marred by intimidation, surveillance, and systemic neglect.
Despite a change in government in 2015 that raised hopes for justice, no Sri Lankan administration has taken steps to appeal the acquittals or pursue accountability. Survivors say their trust in domestic mechanisms has been exhausted. They now call upon the international community to intervene.
On this anniversary, the people of Kumarapuram present four key demands:
- An International Independent Investigation Mechanism to examine the massacre.
- The creation of an international criminal accountability mechanism to address genocide and other grave international crimes committed against Tamils.
- Referral of Sri Lanka to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
- Guarantees of non‑recurrence, including structural reforms to prevent future violations.
Their message is clear: after 30 years of silence, delays, and denials, justice can only come through credible international processes, not through Sri Lanka’s domestic system, which survivors say has consistently failed to protect them.
The full statement:Justice for Kumarapuram massacre