The Tamil Tigers were surrounded and eventually defeated by government forces An eight-member commission set up to look into the last years of the civil war in Sri Lanka is holding its first public sitting.
Human rights groups say government forces as well as the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels may have committed war crimes before the war ended last year. The Sri Lankan government, dominated by the island's Sinhalese majority, denies its forces committed war crimes.
It says this commission will bear witness to the facts.
Sri Lanka has traditionally been a friend of Western countries, but its conduct in the final months of the war created considerable unease in Washington, London and elsewhere.
The International Crisis Group - a think-tank - alleges that the military may have killed tens of thousands of Tamil civilians during the final onslaught against the Tamil Tigers. Colombo rubbishes such claims.
It has hit out against foreign suggestions that an international inquiry on the war is needed.
Instead it has set up this internal panel - the Commission on Lessons Learned and Reconciliation - which started public hearings on Wednesday.
It has called for submissions from ordinary people, although reports say it is to start with hearings from Sri Lankan officials, diplomats and intellectuals.
The government says it is partly inspired by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
However, its remit does not mention a search for truth and also appears to be centred around one main event, the breakdown of a 2002 ceasefire which led to a resumption of all-out war.
BBCBBC
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