A/HRC/34/53/Add.3 in areas that have no Buddhist population; new Sinhalese settlements with facilities appearing suddenly; and State confiscation from Tamil owners of land for development or conservation. It is clear that the fear of this real or perceived deliberate population change is inherently tied to governance issues, including devolution of powers, but it also illustrates the extent to which the minorities view the Sinhalese majority as a threat to their ethnic, religious, cultural and political identity. Social fragmentation and psychological impact of the conflict 40. While people of the war-affected areas struggle with their day-to-day livelihood challenges, another post-conflict issue that remains largely unaddressed is the psychological impact the conflict has had on the communities collectively and individually. Those in the North and East who were directly affected by the war in its last stages — whether they were Tamils or Muslims, combatants or civilians — witnessed, or were victims of, grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws by both the government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), including extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances, as well as suffering loss of loved ones and multiple displacements. Numerous studies show that psychosocial disorders in the population in the war-affected areas, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder, major depression, alcohol abuse and dependence and substance abuse disorder, are prevalent. 5 Seven years on, these scars remain largely unaddressed, with little psychosocial assistance provided to the victims and their families. The result is “a complete breakdown of social networks, breakdown in social capital and loss of social cohesion, the feeling of being part of a community is gone. A rise in alcoholism … coupled with a general sense of powerlessness …. Family relationships have destabilised.”6 Domestic violence, including child abuse and gender-based violence, elder abuse and neglect, suicide and attempted suicide are all reportedly on the rise. Search for truth and accountability 41. As at 18 May 2016, there were 5,758 outstanding cases of enforced disappearance in Sri Lanka with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. While most victims of conflict-era enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings at the hands of the Sri Lankan army were Tamils, Muslims were also either killed or disappeared after being taken by LTTE. 7 Despite several successive commissions of inquiry on enforced or involuntary disappearances and missing persons, the search for truth and justice continues. The Special Rapporteur felt widespread, deep-seated frustration and anger about the lack of progress in the search for truth, compounded by the chronic pattern of impunity. While the ratification by the Government of the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the enactment of the Office of the Missing Persons Act are to be commended, it remains to be seen how effectively the transitional justice mechanisms will be able to provide redress, as well as accountability. 5 6 7 10 Daya Somasundaram, “Psychosocial rehabilitation in north (sic) in a post-war context”, Sunday Times 2 (Colombo), 9 August 2015. Gowrinathan and Cronin-Furman, The Forever Victims?. Report of the Committee on Disappearances in the Jaffna Region of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, October 2003, pp. 18-19.