Within the legal framework of international law, the representation of mass atrocity is expressed through the categories of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. However, these conceptual categories are applied within particular political and ideological fields that must be critiqued in order to reach an inclusive representation of truth about mass atrocity. The focus of this paper will be on the representations of mass atrocity in Sri Lanka, and will demonstrate that ideology has determined how truth is perceived, and how justice
and recovery are envisaged. Approaching this task through a hermeneutic of suspicion allows a more accurate representation to emerge within the political imagination, and indicates more comprehensive justice and recovery measures to be pursued.

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