'From 1983 until 2009, Sri Lankans were involved in or endured a brutal civil war. Between 60 000 and 100 000 people died. During the escalated carnage and human rights abuses of the last months of the war, between 10 000 and 40 000 people were killed, most of them civilians. In 2004, a tsunami devastated the island, killing over 35 000 people. As a result of both catastrophes, large numbers of people were left injured, displaced and traumatised, or have disappeared without trace. Recent investigations, including eyewitness accounts in books like Frances Harrison’s Still Counting the Dead (2012), suggest Sri Lanka is a country still suffering, where the full truth remains to be told and acknowledged.' (Introduction)
