US limited training with SL due to ‘human rights abuses’

31 May 2013

The United States limited ‘counterterrorism cooperation and training’ with Sri Lanka in 2012 due to allegations of human rights abuses, according to the State Department’s ‘Country Reports on Terrorism 2012‘, which was released on Thursday.
In the overview on Sri Lanka, the report stated,

“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 report went on to say,

“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.”

It was noted that Sri Lanka was “a proactive partner with the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, Defense, and Energy on securing its maritime border”, adding that the US Coast Guard had trained the Sri Lankan Navy and Coast Guard in October last year.
The LTTE was still designated as a “Foreign Terrorist Organisation”, with the report noting,

“there have been no known attacks in Sri Lanka that could verifiably be attributed to the LTTE since the end of the war”. 

Pune replaces Chennai as venue for Asian Athletics Championships

Associated Press | Posted on May 30, 2013 at 06:18pm IST

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New Delhi: The Asian Athletics Championships have been switched to the city of Pune in July after Chennai refused to host any Sri Lankans.

New Delhi was considered as an alternative but the logistics for the July 3-7 event worked better for Pune, Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwala told The Associated Press by telephone on Thursday.

Chennai, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, was ruled out in February after the state chief minister Jayaram Jayalalitha said hosting the event would anger people in her province because of alleged atrocities against the ethnic Tamil minority during the civil war in Sri Lanka.

The Asian Athletics Championships have been switched to the city of Pune in July after Chennai refused to host any Sri Lankans.

"We did not consider Chennai as a venue once the government refused to host the event. Sports is one thing and public sentiments another. We should understand that it would not be possible to organize the meet there," said Sumariwala, India's top sprinter during the 1980s.

Sri Lankan cricketers contracted by Indian Premier League franchises were also not allowed to play in Chennai this year.

The Sri Lankan government and now-defeated Tamil Tiger rebels have been accused of serious human rights violations during the 25-year war, especially in its final stages.

According to a UN report, tens of thousands of civilians were killed in the five months before fighting ended in 2009.