The US limited counterterrorism cooperation and training with Sri Lanka, partly due to the failure to address “allegations of atrocities and violations of international law”, committed during the armed conflict, according to a State Department report.

The “Country Reports on Terrorism 2013” further highlighted that the Sri Lankan government used the Prevention of Terrorism Act to stifle dissent among political opponents or other government critics, while maintaining a “strong military presence” in post-conflict areas.

The report outlined continuing concerns by Sri Lanka about a “possible re-emergence of pro-LTTE sympathisers” and said that the country continued to search for financial links to the group, but also pointed out that criticism was made that this search for terrorists was extended “well beyond its utility and expanded to target legitimate political opponents of the government”.

“Concerns remain that widely reported allegations of atrocities and violations of international law committed by both the government and the LTTE during the civil war have not been addressed. Partly as a result, counterterrorism cooperation and training with the United States was limited in 2013.”

“In 2013, the Government of Sri Lanka continued to implement the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), enacted in 1982 as a wartime measure, which gives security forces sweeping powers to search, arrest, and detain individuals. The government sometimes used the PTA to stifle dissent among political opponents or others critical of the government.”

Sri Lanka’s Navy and Coast Guard were continued to be trained by the US Coast Guard on border and export control matters and the State Department trained 25 Sri Lankan immigration officials on fraudulent document recognition, as border security remained a significant issue for Sri Lanka in 2013, the report further said.

“Although U.S. antiterrorism assistance to Sri Lanka has generally been limited, in 2013 the Sri Lankan government was a proactive partner with the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense, and Energy on securing its maritime border” it said.

The report on terrorism is submitted to Congress by the State Department every year, detailing incidents and activities of “terrorist groups”.

“Terrorist acts are part of a larger phenomenon of violence inspired by a cause, and at times the line between the two can become difficult to draw. This report includes some discretionary information in an effort to relate terrorist events to the larger context in which they occur, and to give a feel for the conflicts that spawn violence,” it says.