May 2009
0:47 Sri Lanka's military defeats the Tamil Tigers to end the country's 26-year civil war.
August 2009
3:24 Channel 4 News first airs video evidence appearing to show Sri Lanka soldiers executing Tamil prisoners.
December 2010
8:04 Friends and former colleagues of Tamil TV presenter and member of the LTTE propaganda wing Isaipriya identify her as one of the executed bodies seen in more footage aired by Channel 4 News. In 2013 Channel 4 News revealed more footage about the fate of Isaipriya, showing her alive and in the custody of the Sri Lankan army.
April 2011
5:04 A critical UN report reveals "credible allegations" of war crimes committed by both sides and says tens of thousands of Tamil civilians were killed in the last four months of the war, with one of the main reasons being "systematic shelling".
November 2013
4:38 David Cameron visits the Tamil-dominated north of Sri Lanka during the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Colombo. Talking to Jon Snow in a camp for the displaced, Mr Cameron said that if the Sri Lankan government did not "come up with a credible independent inquiry" then the British government would "lend our support to a full international independent inquiry".
March 2014
0:53 The UK is one of the governments which loses patience with Sri Lanka and passes a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva setting up the international inquiry into war crimes.
January 2015
President Mahindra Rajapaksa is voted out and replaced with former ally Maithripala Sirisena. The new Sirisena government makes significant moves to confront corruption, reduce the power of the executive presidency and lift many restrictions on the press.
March 2015
3:53 Sirisena visits the UK and says a domestic process to ensure justice and reconciliation would start "within a month". However, that process has been delayed several times.
July 2015
5:24 A leaked UN report suggests the UN may co-operate with the Sri Lankan government’s entirely domestic investigation into alleged war crimes. A separate report claims “white van abductions” and torture have continued under the government of Sirisena.
August 2015
Sri Lankan parliamentary elections are due to take place, in which Mahinda Rajapaksa is standing as an MP. His supporters hope that he could go on to become prime minister.