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Defining the future of Sri Lanka

After its civil war, critics warn that the country is descending toward dictatorship.

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May 15, 2012

Members of Sri Lanka's navy march in Colombo. Sri Lanka was set to celebrate its War Heroes Week with a military parade to mark the third anniversary of its defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, which ended a three-decade civil war. Human rights groups and opposition leaders now warn that dissent is brutally crushed, the media are cowed and the minority Tamils, whose insurrection caused the war in the first place, are treated like second-class citizens.

Ishara S.Kodikara / AFP/Getty Images

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