“Even after 21 years, I still do not accept that my son is no more,” said Visakha Dharmadasa, whose son disappeared at the height of the civil war between the government and Tamil Tiger insurgents. “I haven’t seen a dead body. I am still waiting for him.”

She said she planned to keep her son’s certificate of absence, a document that allowed the families of the missing to make legal decisions on their behalf.

Sri Lanka is haunted by the scars of its civil war.

Even as the country tries to move on, devastating reminders of the carnage crop up. It is not uncommon for mass graves and old weapons caches to be uncovered during excavations to build shopping centers or upscale hotels in the country, which became a tourist hot spot after the conflict had ended.

Now, President Rajapaksa appears to be seeking to usher in a new era for the country by trying to close one of the final chapters of the war: the file of the missing.

Mr. Rajapaksa was defense secretary during the last years of the civil war, and was accused of gross human rights abuses as he crushed the insurgency and brought the conflict to an end. Thousands of civilians were killed. The president has consistently denied any wrongdoing during his time as defense secretary.