The newly elected member of the Northern Provincial council, Ananthy Sasitharan, in an interview with Journalists for Democracy, outlined attacks on families of the disappeared when they attempted to stage demonstrations in front of the David Cameron. Describing the attacks Ms. Sasitharan, who received the second highest number of votes in the Northern Provincial elections, said , “When we tried to wave flags and chant slogans, the anti-riots squad police personnel unleashed waves of brutal attack on us. They beat us with batons and kicked us with boots on. Even the Catholic priests and wailing elderly mothers of the disappeared were badly assaulted as the VIPs were going past as mere onlookers. ”

The UK government has pledged £2.1 million over the next 2 years for a demining programme in the Tamil regions of Jaffna, Kilinochchi and Mullaitheevu. Announcing the fund at a press conference following his visit to Jaffna, the British Prime Minister David Cameron said, “As part of our support for reconciliation efforts across this country, we will provide an additional £2.1 million to support demining work in Jaffna, in Kilinochchi and in Mullaitivu districts – the location of some of the most chilling scenes from Channel 4’s No Fire Zone documentary. ” The fund is expected to clear...

British Prime Minister David Cameron arrived in Colombo for the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting, earlier on Thursday, after vowing to send 'strong messages' to the Sri Lankan government over their human rights record. Cameron spoke to reporters before his departure, where he vowed to have a "frank conversation" with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, over the need for independent investigations into allegations of war crimes. The Guardian described the touted meeting as a "diplomatic showdown" , with the Independent , in a piece entitled 'On a wing and a prayer in Sri Lanka' , stating, "Never in 40 years of Commonwealth summits has a British Prime Minister faced such a diplomatic showdown with a host leader as Mr Cameron faces." Meanwhile the Telegraph reported that the Sri Lankan President may even snub a meeting with the British Prime Minister over the "diplomatic row" . Before he left for Colombo, Cameron stated, “The images in that film [No Fire Zone] are completely chilling... It’s an appalling set of allegations and of course these allegations have been backed up by the work of the UN Special Rapporteur who has had them verified." “These are chilling images of appalling acts and they need to be properly investigated.” "There are legitimate accusations of war crimes that need to be properly investigated" Sri Lanka has responded angrily to criticism over its human rights record, with a government minister stating Sri Lanka was "not a colony" and Rajapaksa himself retorting that he "will also have to ask some questions" to Cameron if they meet. Speaking to the BBC before his departure, he was asked by the BBC's Nick Robinson, "How on earth is it right that that man and that coutry is able to chair an important organisation like the Commonwealth and welcome you as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom?"

Tamil demonstrators protesting to highlight the prevalent disappearances, human rights abuses, on-going militarisation and lack of accountability and justice in the North-East were prevented from voicing their concerns to David Cameron today, as the British Premier met the Chief Minister C.V Wigneswaran in Jaffna. Protestors faced strong intimidation from the Sri Lankan police as they attempted to stage demonstrations near sites being visited by David Cameron in Jaffna. See below for twitter updates from this morning’s events.