Photograph by Dhammika Heenpella
Prime minister David Cameron has become the first foreign leader to northern Sri Lanka and meet Tamil leaders since Sri Lankan independence in 1948.
Cameron is in Sri Lanka for the Commonwealth summit in the capital, Columbo, defying calls to boycott the event in protest against the alleged human rights abuses against the Tamil people by the Sri Lankan military in the final months of the civil war in 2009 in which 40,000 people were killed.
The prime ministers of Canada, India and Mauritius have boycotted the summit over the allegations of rape, executions, and indiscriminate shelling of civilian targets by the Sri Lankan military.
Instead, Cameron has said that he is visiting the Tamil-majority north of the country in a symbolic move to shine a light on the alleged abuses, and insists that there should be a credible independent investigation into the alleged crimes.
Whilst in the northern province, Cameron met with the chief minister of the area, CV Vigneswaran of the Tamil National Alliance, and reportedly praised the bravery of journalists of the Tamil Uthayan newspaper who are regularly attacked and recently had their presses burned down for their critical stance against the Sri Lankan government.
Cameron was also greeted by protesters looking for justice for the abuses allegedly carried out by the Sri Lankan military in the civil war, but also under British rule prior to 1948.
