Families from Keppapulavu today marked 500 days of protest against the occupation of their lands by the military. 

"International community are you also closing your eyes? Are you too devoid of justice," banners read, as families campaigned for their lands to be released.

Tamil families of the disappeared protested at the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) hearing in Jaffna this morning.

Boycotting the hearing, families said they have no faith in the commission, which they believe will be like the several commissions before it in which they have also testified.

A significant presence of intelligence officers were noted at the protest and meeting, who were seen taking photographs and noting down information about the protesters. 

Civil society groups and human rights activists demonstrated in Colombo on Friday to show their support for the ongoing struggle for justice by families of the disappeared. 

Holding placards and banners, demonstrators urged the government to provide answers to the whereabouts of missing loved ones and drew attention the plight of families who have been protesting on the issue for over 500 days. 

The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte praised his Sri Lankan counterpart, Maithripala Sirisena for what he described as following the country's 'successful war on drugs'. 

The Sri Lankan cabinet this week announced they would implement the death penalty for drug trafficking offences. 

Despite widespread criticism of the move, Mr Sirisena defended it saying he was attempting to replicate the 'success' of the Philippines. 

The Indian foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale discussed the ongoing arrests of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan navy during a visit to Colombo on Friday where he met with the Sri Lankan prime minister. 

Mr Gokhale discussions with Mr Wickremesinghe came as 16 Tamil Nadu fishermen who had been detained were ordered to be released by a Jaffna court. 

Indian projects on the island were also discussed with Mr Wickremesinghe saying that they would commence this year.

Keppapulavu families accused the Sri Lankan government of "continuously betraying us" as they prepared to mark 500 days tomorrow of their ongoing protest against the military's occupation of their land.  

"This government keeps telling us that more time is needed and is making us wait on the streets," protesters told reporters today. 

"In this situation we are no longer prepared to believe in these promises," they added. 

Hundreds of new photographs from inside Mullivaikkal in 2009, where tens of thousands of Tamils were slaughtered in a Sri Lankan military offensive, have been released by TamilNet this week.

The photographs, taken from inside the infamous No Fire Zones, show the aftermath of Sri Lankan military shelling.

The nominee for the next US ambassador to Sri Lanka Alaina Teplitz acknowledged that “the Tamil community is very concerned about progress made towards reconciliation, accountability, justice,” in her testimony to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations last month.

Responding to questions posed by the committee on the “reconciliation prospects between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities”, Ms Teplitz said, “there remain significant differences”.

The Sri Lankan military organised a clean up of the grounds of a hospital in Kilinochchi in May, almost 9 years after the area was heavily bombarded by the very same security forces.

The Sri Lankan government is reportedly planning to build a third international airport in Trincomalee, local papers reported on Thursday. 

The airport appears to be part of plans to re-develop Trincomalee as a tourism hub, which the government says will be completed by 2050. 

The Sri Lankan prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe said, "when you look back at Sri Lanka's history, we were a hub in the Indian Ocean where there were several ports."