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Mirusuvil massacre and mass grave refers the massacre and mass burial of eight (8) minority Sri Lankan Tamil refugees including children following an incident referred to as Mirusuvil massacre.

The Incident

Mirusukvil massacre happened on 20 December, 2000 when eight (8)internally displaced refugees returning to inspect their property were arrested on 19 December 2000 in a village named Mirusuvil close to Jaffna. They were subsequently murdered by Sri Lankan Army soldiers and buried in a mass grave, about 16 miles east of Jaffna town.(see location here)

The refugees had returned from Udupiddy, further north. They returned to Mirusuvil on 19 December to inspect their houses and to collect firewood, when they were seized by the Army. The refugess had obtained permission from local authorities before visiting their former properties. According to the evidence of District Medical Officer, Dr. C. Kathirvetpillai, their throats had been slashed. The dead included three teenagers and five year-old Vilvarajah Prasath

v t e Sri Lankan civil war (1983–2009)
Origins	Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism Sinhala Only Act 1956 1958 Vaddukoddai Resolution 1977 1981 Burning of Jaffna Library Black July
Combatants	Sri Lanka Army (LRRP) Navy Air Force Police Special Task Force Home Guards Attacks on civilians Assassinations LTTE Divisions Air Tigers Sea Tigers Black Tigers Attacks in the 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Assassinations Suicide bombings Other militants (list) ENDLF ENLF EPRLF EROS PLOTE TELO  India Indian Peace Keeping Force Paramilitary groups EPDP TMVP
Phases	Eelam War I Indian intervention Eelam War II III IV Eastern / Northern theatres
Major battles	Kokkilai Vadamarachchi Poomalai Pawan Jaffna University Helidrop Balavegaya 1st Elephant Pass Pooneryn Riviresa 1st Mullaitivu Weli Oya Sath Jaya Vavunathivu Jayasikurui Thandikulam–Omanthai 1st Kilinochchi Oddusuddan A-9 highway 2nd Elephant Pass Bandaranaike Airport attack Point Pedro Jaffna Thoppigala Vidattaltivu 2nd Kilinochchi 2nd Mullaitivu Puthukkudiyirippu
Major events	Air Lanka Flight 512 Indo-Sri Lanka Accord Expulsions from Northern province Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa Temple of the Tooth attack Lionair Flight 602 Bandaranaike Airport attack Expulsions from Colombo 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo
Leaders	Sri Lanka Military Army Tissa Weeratunga Nalin Seneviratne Hamilton Wanasinghe Cecil Waidyaratne G. H. De Silva Rohan Daluwatte Srilal Weerasooriya L. P. Balagalle Shantha Kottegoda Sarath Fonseka Navy Asoka de Silva H. A. Silva Clancy Fernando D. A. M. R. Samarasekara H. C. A. C. Thisera Daya Sandagiri Wasantha Karannagoda Air Force Dick Perera Andibuduge Fernando Makalandage Gunawardena Oliver Ranasinghe Jayalath Weerakkody Donald Perera Roshan Goonetileke Civilian J. R. Jayewardene Ranasinghe Premadasa Dingiri Banda Wijetunga Chandrika Kumaratunga Mahinda Rajapaksa LTTE Militant Velupillai Prabhakaran Pottu Amman Soosai Karuna Amman Political Selvarasa Pathmanathan Anton Balasingham S. P. Thamilselvan India Military Harkirat Singh Ashok K. Mehta Kulwant Singh Depinder Singh Dalvir Singh Krishnaswamy Sundarji Civilian R. Venkataraman Rajiv Gandhi V. P. Singh Jyotindra Nath Dixit J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi Vaiko
Aftermath	Genocide Films NPC resolution LLRC Reactions (Protests) Remembrance Day UN Panel on Accountability War crimes Chemical weapons
Related topics	Casualties Assassinations Massacres Child soldiers Disappearances Office on Missing Persons Human rights Popular culture Terrorism Non-state State PTA Sexual violence Sixth Amendment Thirteenth Amendment 1988 Maldives coup attempt 1987–1989 JVP insurrection
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The murders came to light because one of the arrested, Ponnuthurai Maheswaran escaped from Army custody with serious injuries and informed relatives.Eventually five Sri Lankan Army soldiers were charged with illegal arrests, torture, murder and burial of their dead bodies in a mass grave.

Reactions

In a letter to the then President Chandrika Kumaratunga, the local member of parliament Mavai Senathirajah said that a woman’s body was seen partially buried in the area, leading to suspicions that there are other mass graves. He urged the president to order further excavations in Mirusuvil.

Human rights groups such as Center for Human Rights Development (CHRD) along with other civilian groups initiated a campaign and demanded the government to arrest the murderers and as a result 14 Sri Lanka Army Soldiers were taken into custody. They were produced before the Magistrate in Chavakachcheri, located in Jaffna district and remanded. CHRD lawyer Mr. M. Remadious was instrumental in participating in legal proceedings against the suspects and also met and interviewed the relatives of the victims to collect more information.

The case was then transferred to the Magistrate Court in Anuradhapura and was taken up on 20 May 2002. Attorney General then nominated three Judges to hear the case at Trial at Bar, High court, Colombo on 27 November 2002. Group of volunteer lawyers took care of the interests of the victim’s families and key witnesses.

Case follow up

The government in 2002 agreed to try the arrested army officers without a jury. The main witness in the court case was quoted as saying that

he was caught by some army personnel armed with weapons while he was collecting firewood with other villagers. He said the army men ordered them to put down the knives and started to assault them. Later he was blindfolded with his own sarong and taken near a toilet pit where another soldier was waiting with a kris knife. He described that there were blood stains at the place. While the army men were talking, the main witness Ponnadurai Maheshwaran had managed to escape by running away from the place

It should be noted that all the bodies of the victims including three teenagers and a five year old child were exhumed from a toilet pit by a team led by the military police.

Although the case was still being heard in 2005, Human rights agencies have complained of delays in hearing of this and other human rights related cases.

See also

• Chemmani mass grave
• Duraiappa stadium mass grave

Notes

•  Internally displaced: Sri Lanka has over 600,000 people who are internally displaced due to the effect of the Sri Lankan civil war since 1983 and the 2004 Tsunami. They live in refugee camps and resettlement villages unable to go back to their original place of residence due to security concerns and lack of infrastructure. Most are looked after by a combination of help from the local communities, the government, NGO's and international aid agencies such as UNHCR.
  
•  Disappearances: More than 700 people disappeared in Jaffna in 1996 to 1997. The remains of 17 people were found buried at Chemmani in 1999. The Sri Lankan government has said that 765 complaints of disappearance had been received. Sixteen people were ascertained as killed in custody and 201 were said to be in prisons. The fate of 548 remains unknown. The UN Working Group on Disappearances urged the government in March, to abolish the Prevention of Terrorism Act and the Emergency regulations which facilitate disappearances.
  

References

1. ^ "Activities of Center for Human Rights Development". chrdsrilanka.org. 2007-05-09.
2. ^ "Mirusuvil massacre case". BBC.com. 2007-05-09.
3. "Child soldiers:Understanding the context" (PDF). BMJ.com. 2007-05-06.
4. ^ "Mirusuvil mass graves". British Refugee Council: Sri Lanka Monitor. 2007-05-09.
5. ^ "HRW Country Report – Sri Lanka". HRW.com. 2007-05-09.
6. "New panel to probe Mirusuvil massacre". BBC.com. 2007-05-09.
7. "No jury in Mirusuvil case". Tamilnet. 2002. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Main witness in the Mirusuvil massacre case testifies". Dailymirror.lk. 2007-05-10.
9. "Mirusuvil case". AHRC.com. 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Amnesty International report on internally displaced in Sri Lanka". Amnesty International.org. Retrieved 2007-04-22.
11. "Façade of accountability: Disappearances in Sri Lanka" (PDF). Third World Law Journal: Boston College Vo l23:115. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)

External links

• Mirusuvil case proceedings Feb 2003
• Mirusuvil case proceedings March 2003
• Mirusuvil case proceedings May 2003
• Mirusuvil case proceedings June 2003
• The other Mirusuvil massacre by UTHR - report 10

• History of Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan Tamil history
• Human rights in Sri Lanka
• Mass graves
• Civilian massacres in Sri Lanka
• War crimes in Sri Lanka