Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: Pakistan’s military worked with civil
society leaders to operate the Sabaoon Rehabilitation Center, a de-radicalization program in
Mingora, Swat where radicalized youth are rehabilitated through education and counseling.
SRI LANKA
Overview: In 2009, the Government of Sri Lanka militarily defeated the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was seeking an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's Tamil
population. The Sri Lankan government's comprehensive and aggressive counterterrorism stance
is a direct result of its experience in this nearly three decades-long conflict. Counterterrorism
cooperation and training with the United States in 2012 was limited, however, due to statutory
and policy restrictions based on concerns about alleged past human rights abuses committed by
Sri Lankan security forces.
The Sri Lankan government claimed that it continued to uncover abandoned weapons and
explosives in areas of the country formerly controlled by the LTTE. Although there were no
known LTTE activities in Sri Lanka in 2012, the government asserted that peaceful protests at
Jaffna University in November were organized by students trained by overseas LTTE supporters
and made several arrests.
The Government of Sri Lanka remained concerned that the LTTE's international network of
financial support was still functioning; many counterterrorism activities undertaken by the
government targeted alleged LTTE finances. Also, the Sri Lankan government maintained a
strong military presence in post-conflict areas and voiced concern about the possible reemergence
of pro-LTTE sympathizers.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Counterterrorism legislation in Sri
Lanka has focused on eliminating the remnants of the LTTE and enforcing general security
throughout the island. The Sri Lankan government continued to implement the Prevention of
Terrorism Act of 1978, which was made a permanent law in 1982 and remains in force.
The Sri Lankan government is a proactive partner with the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland
Security, Defense, and Energy on securing its maritime border. In October, the U.S. Coast
Guard, under the Department of State’s Export Control and Related Border Security program,
trained Sri Lankan Coast Guard and Navy personnel on border and export control matters. The
Sri Lankan government also cooperated with U.S. Customs and Border Protection through the
Container Security Initiative. Further, in 2012, the International Organization for Migration
(IOM) trained over 50 immigration officers in techniques to improve border surveillance and
combat human trafficking. IOM, in conjunction with the Australian government, provided
specialized training to 16 Sri Lankan immigration personnel to reinforce intelligence and data
collection efforts to secure the border. A specific Sri Lankan immigration border intelligence unit
was established and used improved database processing to target forgeries and the use of
counterfeit documents.
Countering Terrorist Finance: Sri Lanka is a member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money
Laundering, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. Although the LTTE has
been militarily defeated, the Government of Sri Lanka asserted that sympathizers and
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