Matale Mass Grave Case: Magistrate Refuses Affidavits, Ignores Submissions & Avoids Recording True Proceedings
November 5, 2013
The Matale Magistrate yesterday (4 November 2013) refused to accept further affidavits from persons whose relatives have disappeared and were seeking to provide information to court on incidents relating to the mass graves discovered in Matale.
Mass Grave At Matale
The Magistrate verbally asked that all statements be given directly to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). According to several relatives contacted by Colombo Telegraph, this paves the way for the police to be used to cover up for powerful interested parties.
The lawyers appearing on behalf of the aggrieved parties objected to the decision to send forensic samples to a Chinese institution, given the different legal standards applied in China and the recent incidents which have discredited the Chinese Forensic Medicine Association.
The above issues and concerns though raised in open court, are not reflected in the official case record. The case record would only reflect the next date given as 22 May 2014, which is all that was dictated for the record.
By Chrishanthi Christopher-Tuesday, 05 Nov 2013
Ostensibly the jig saw puzzle is falling into place. Samples of the skeletal remains found at the Matale mass grave last November, will be produced in the Matale Magistrate’s Court tomorrow and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is preparing to send the bone samples to China for Carbon Dating tests, which would re-determine the period to which the bones belong. In another development, the Matale Judicial Medical Office said that the skeletal remains will soon be ready for DNA testing.
The Judicial Medical Officer (JMO),
Dr. Ajith Jayasena, who is in charge of the forensic investigation says that the 160-page report on the over 150 skeletons and shards of bones found at the mass grave site will be ready in the next four weeks and DNA tallying on the bones could be started, immediately, thereafter.
Dr. Ajith Jayasena, who is in charge of the forensic investigation says that the 160-page report on the over 150 skeletons and shards of bones found at the mass grave site will be ready in the next four weeks and DNA tallying on the bones could be started, immediately, thereafter.
The bones, which were found in the Matale District Hospital backyard during an excavation process for construction of a building for the hospital, is arousing many an interest both locally and internationally. Critics argue the DNA tallying of the bones with the families who are claiming the bones belong to their family members lost or killed during the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), insurgency will definitely open up a Pandora’s box, implicating many politicians, high ranking army officials and the police. The Archaeological Department has announced the time period the bone belongs to, as 1988-91 and many families who had lost their family members during the JVP uprising, have come forward to claim the bone relics.
According to former JVP Provincial Councillor, Gamagedera Dissanayake, already around 100 families have turned up with affidavits, since the case was taken up at the Matale Magistrate’s Court, a few months back. Moreover, the former Matale Magistrate Chaturika de Silva has directed the CID to insert adverts in the local newspapers to inform the people that they can come forward and claim a stake on the bones if they had a family member gone missing during the relevant period. The newspaper advertisements, when published are expected to shoot up the number of claimants on the bones.
Dr. Ajith Jayasena said he would be forwarding the prepared reports to the Matale Magistrate Sampath Gamage by the end of this month and the process of DNA testing can commence, immediately.
With the bones ready for the DNA testing process, questions have arisen as to Sri Lanka’s preparedness to do the tests locally. Dr. Jayasena argues that though DNA testing is being done at the Molecular Medicinal Unit of the Kelaniya University, the reliability of the tests are questionable. JMO Colombo Dr. Ajith Tennakoon, also echoes the same opinion. “The Kelaniya University has the expertise but I am not sure of their standards,” he said.
On the contrary, sending the samples overseas for testing will be time-consuming and costly. To circumvent the problem both Dr. Jayasena and Dr. Tennakoon recommend testing the samples at Genetech, a local company engaged in the DNA testing business for over eleven years.
On the contrary, sending the samples overseas for testing will be time-consuming and costly. To circumvent the problem both Dr. Jayasena and Dr. Tennakoon recommend testing the samples at Genetech, a local company engaged in the DNA testing business for over eleven years.
Senior Scientist Dr. Ruwan J. Ileperuma of Genetech says that his company has all the expertise required for the DNA testing of the bones. According to Ileperuma, his company has handled over 3,000 cases for the police and the courts, testing over 3,500 samples of blood, saliva, vomit and other traces of evidences found at the crime scenes, helping the police solve many tricky cases. Besides, many civil cases of paternity, maternity and immigration problems have also been solved successfully by the company.
Dr. Ileperuma said DNA in dead bodies get degraded quickly due to external factors such as time, moisture and high temperature destroying the delicate nucleus in the cells. And as the DNA testing involves the nucleus, samples that are old and have been exposed to extreme temperatures and moisture cannot be subject to nuclear DNA testing. However, he said in such instances the alternative test, the Mitrochondrial DNA (MtDNA) testing is resorted to. However, there is a snag in the MtDNA testing as only the female relatives of the sample can be traced in the tests. It is understood that the MtDNA which is present in the cytoplasm of the cell, outside the nucleus is passed down from the mother to the children, unchanged. Hence, a MtDNA test results can be tallied with the samples of the DNA of the individual’s mother, siblings or maternal family members.
As the bones in question are in a degrading condition, Dr. Ileperuma contends that only a MtDNA testing can be done on the bones as the nuclear DNA will be degraded beyond analysis. Also he proposes to deal with the samples that are more wholesome than the others. “femur, ribs and teeth are ideal bones for DNA testing as they are strong bones,” he said.
Dr. Jayasena also agrees that the testing should be done in stages and with the good bones first. He said that he would highly recommend to the courts for the DNA testing to be done at Genetech, which would be less costly and save enormous amount of time.
