ABSTRACT
Introduction Once we reached the roads east of Habarana, the Sri Lankan countryside started to feel different: military checkpoints became much more common, and we began to spot small bulwarks emerging from the earth, mounds of clay and timber patched together to provide just enough room for a solitary soldier to peer out with his rifle poised. This was the part of the country that had recently been “liberated” (in 2007) by the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) in its war against the Tamil Tigers (LTTE). At the time of this visit to the East in October 2008, the frontlines of the war had moved north to the Vanni, 2 but violence in the East continued, and the armed presence of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and other groups 3 was ubiquitous.
