Sri Lankan court orders probe on mass grave

A Sri Lankan court on Friday ordered a full investigation into a mass grave found last year in the central province, a lawyer said. The Magistrate in Matale ordered a full investigation on the mass grave and instructed the Criminal Investigations Department ( CID) to submit a comprehensive report to court by the end of this month. The Magistrate also ordered the CID to record statements from 13 petitioners in the mass grave who claimed that their relatives were believed to have been buried at the site. Lawyer appearing on behalf of the petitioners, Sunil Watagala, said that the Magistrate also ordered a DNA test on the skeletal remains found in Matale. Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa last month decided to appoint a special commission to investigate the mass grave at Matale. The investigations by the commission will be in addition to the investigations being carried out by the police. Over 150 skeletal remains and human bones have been unearthed from the mass grave in Matale. Forensics had determined that the remains were of those killed sometime in the late 1980's and the area has now been marked as a crime scene. At least 10 skeletal remains were first found from the site near the Matale hospital in November last year by construction workers when land near the hospital was being dug-up to construct a new building. Following police investigations excavation work began to look for skeletal remains at the site and more remains were found. A Marxist political party, the JVP, demanded that the government carry out investigations on the mass grave following fears the remains maybe that of JVP members or supporters killed during a 1987-89 insurgency. The main opposition United National Party, which was in power during the 1987-89 period, said it will back an independent investigation into the mass grave.