Tamil villagers in Mannar staged a demonstration calling for the Sri Lankan government to account for the massive number of people who have disappeared across the North-East.

Holding the protest alongside other demonstrations in the North-East, relatives of the disappeared said the Sri Lankan government must give them answers to account for their loved ones.

The Democratic Party, led by the former army commander, Sarath Fonseka, joined the United National Party led coalition, the United National Front (UNF) today.

The agreement came following discussions between Mr Fonseka, who was in charge of the army in 2009 when tens of thousands of Tamils are believed to have killed by the Sri Lankan military, and the current UNP leader and prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties at Temple Trees on Wednesday.

India's president, Pranab Mukherjee, on Wednesday expressed his hope to strengthen ties with Colombo, as Sri Lanka prepared to mark 'Independence Day'.

"The ties of friendship between India and Sri Lanka go back centuries and have matured over time to include all areas of contemporary relevance," Mr Mukherjee was quoted by NDTVas saying to Sri Lanka's president, Maithripala Sirisena.

The Sri Lankan government has been making contradictory statements regarding the implementation of a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution on accountability, said former Sri Lankan foreign minister G. L. Peiris.

“The sixth paragraph of the resolution clearly mentions the involvement of foreign judges,” said Mr Peiris. "However, President (Maithripala Sirisena) repeatedly denies the involvement of foreign expertise in a domestic mechanism and says the government can't rush the investigation.”

Sri Lankan police have arrested a 15 year old boy over the murder of a Tamil schoolchild earlier this month, reports The Island.

Police in Sampur are currently interrogating the teenager, after body of a 6 year old Tamil boy who was reportedly raped and murdered, was found dumped in an abandoned well.

Photograph: Will Baxter/Freedom From Torture

Tamil torture victims who suffered at the hands of the Sri Lankan government called on the UN Human Rights chief to ensure that an “internationalised justice process” takes place, ahead of his visit to the island this week.

In a report by UK-based charity Freedom From Torture and the survivor activist network Survivors Speak OUT, victims called on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein to “deliver a strong message to the President and Prime Minister about the need for Sri Lanka to comply with the commitments it made to the UN Human Rights Council and the consequences if it fails to do so” during his visit to the island.