Matale Mass Grave:arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner

Nearly 200 skeletons unearthed: clear sings of torture ( Photo- Ceylon Today)

The skeletal remains found in the mass grave at the Matale Hospital premises do not belong to people who had died due to natural causes, as their arms and legs appear to have been severed and the bodies buried in a haphazard manner, a senior police official said.

Discovery of 140 Skeletal Remains in the Matale Mass Graves: Is Gotabhaya Rajapaksa Implicated in the Incident?

D.B.S.JEYARAJ
Speculation is rife in Sri Lanka and among Sri Lankans abroad of the possibility of Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa being implicated in the incident concerning the discovery of skeletal remains in mass graves in the Hill town of Matale.

UNP too calls for probe on Matale mass grave

In the wake of JVP demanding a comprehensive investigation into the Matale mass grave, which has revealed 140 skulls and skeletal remains so far, the UNP too yesterday said it was the responsibility of the government to conduct an investigation into it.

JVP says Matale mass grave has remains of 200 torture victims ... blames govt. for harboruing killers,offers to face probe into its own killings

The JVP yesterday charged that those responsible for the Matale killings during 1987-89 period, directly or indirectly, were now holding high ranking posts in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government.
Addressing a media conference at the party head office, in Pelawatte yesterday, JVP parliamentary group leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said that they could not expect from the government justice for the victims buried in the Matale mass grave, which contained 140 skulls as well as skeletal remains.

136 skulls dug up from Matale mass grave

As excavations being conducted at the mass grave discovered near the Matale Hospital continue, the number of human skulls unearthed from excavations carried out so far has reached 136.
It has been reported that 142 skeletal remains have also been found and that additional teams have currently been placed to carry out further excavations.

79 skulls found: JVP demands probe into Matale mass grave of Sinhala youth

Initial investigations say these skeletal belong to 1988 -90

The JVP yesterday called for a high level probe into the Matale mass grave, from which 79 human skulls and the skeletal remains of 78 persons, believed to have been killed during the second JVP uprising in the late 1980s, were unearthed.
JVP Propaganda Secretary and MP Vijitha Herath told The Island yesterday that according to his information there were many more mass graves containing remains of JVP activists and other youth in several parts of the country.

Matale mass grave traced to 1987-89; Skeletal remains of 79 persons exhumed

Thousands of youth were abducted and killed by security forces in 1988 - 90

By Saman Indrajith
Human skeletal remains excavated from a mass grave near the Matale Hospital have been preliminary dated to 1987-89 period, when over 60,000 insurgents perished in extra judicial killings by the then government sponsored death squads during the second JVP uprising.

70 corpses from Matale mass grave

Seventy corpses and 59 skulls were  recovered yesterday fro the Matale mass grave  at the premises of the Matale district hospital, yesterday(08). Dr. Ajith Jayasena, Judicial Medical officer of the Matale district hospital who is in charge of the medical team conducting the excavations said that  three more specialist  Judicial medical officers   joined them on tMonday(07).

Over 50 Skeletons Unearthed ■Matale Mass Grave Investigations Abandoned Midway

Niranjala Ariyawansha
The number of skeletons unearthed from a location at the Matale Hospital, during excavations done to construct a Bio-gas Unit, has risen to 58, and Matale residents allege the investigations into the skeletons have been abandoned midway.

Sri Lanka mass grave unearths ghosts from troubled past

Reuters/Reuters - A police officer covers part of a dead body at a building site in Matale, a central town 142 km (88 miles) from the capital, Colombo, December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

Shihar Aneez | Reuters 

MATALE, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - A mass grave unearthed in Sri Lanka has stirred memories of the country's bloody insurgencies and sparked calls for an official inquiry in the island nation that has drawn global scrutiny for its chequered human rights record.

Moves To Block Grave Probe?

Startling Revelations In Matale Burial Sites

Investigations into the skeletal remains found at a mass grave in Matale took a new twist last week amidst claims of attempts to suppress the truth.The Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of the Matale District Hospital, Dr Ajith Jayasena insisted that claims the skeletons dated back 40 years was ‘a lie’.
His comments follow strong suspicions that the skeletons are the remains of youth killed during the 1989 JVP insurrection.

Matale Skeletal Remains On The Rise

Consultant Judicial Medical Officer of Base Hospital, Matale Dr Ajith Jayasena collecting bones of those buried.

Disrespectful mass burial

The skeletal remains that were found at the Matale District Hospital compound has put the whole nation in a state of shock, and questions are being raised about the identity of the three skeletons, and how such a gruesome act could have happened in a civil society as ours.

This brings to surface the findings of mass graves in Chemmini and Sooriyakanda in the past. Even today, there are dead bodies found all over the island. One ponders whether Sri Lanka itself has become a mass grave today.

The count of skeletons found in Matale is growing as we go to print. By last Thursday, the number had gone up to 43. According to Matale District Hospital, Consultant Judicial Medical Officer, Dr. Ajith Jayasena, more skeletons may be found in the coming days. “If so, this will be the biggest mass grave ever found in the history of Sri Lanka,” Dr. Jayasena said.