Countering terrorist financing and money laundering:
US report lauds Lanka’s commitment
Rasika SOMARATHNA
Sri Lanka has shown a high level of commitment to counter terrorist
financing and money laundering, a US state department report on
terrorism said. The ‘Country Reports on Terrorism’, released last
Thursday, said that while there were no terrorist incidents within Sri
Lanka in 2010, there were continuing concerns that the LTTE’s
international network of financial support might still be functioning
and therefore, most counter-terrorism activities undertaken by the Sri
Lankan government were targeted at countering terrorist finance.
In February, Sri Lanka provided a high-level written commitment to
work with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to implement the
following corrective measures:
(1) adequately criminalizing money laundering and terrorist
financing; and (2) establishing and implementing adequate procedures to
identify and freeze terrorist assets.
The government was drafting amendments to the 2005-2006 laws on money
laundering and terrorist financing, in accordance with FATF
recommendations, at year’s end, the report further said.
The report which provides and assessment of trends and events in
international terrorism said that in Sri Lanka legislative efforts too
were focused on limiting financial support for the remnants of the LTTE.
It said that Sri Lanka had signed a MOU with the Financial
Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh to facilitate the investigations and
prosecution of persons suspected of money laundering and terrorist
financing. In addition Lanka has already signed similar MOU’s with
Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia, Afghanistan, South Korea and
Indonesia, the report noted.
On the government efforts to restore normalcy in the former conflict
affected areas the report observed, that in order to address lingering
resentment in areas that were formerly held by LTTE, the Sri Lankan
government was working to restore civil administration, resettle
Internally Displaced Persons, provide immediate infrastructure
development, encourage private sector participation, and promote the
development of industries.
On regional terrorism the US state department report said “South Asia
continued to experience violence in 2010 as terrorists expanded their
operations and networks across the region and beyond”.
It added, “in response the US worked to increase counter terrorism
cooperation with its partners in South Asia”.
Following are some of the highlights the State Department report
observed on Sri Lanka:
Legislation and Law Enforcement: Legislative efforts were focused on
limiting financial support for the remnants of LTTE. Domestically, there
was a large budgetary allocation for defence and monitoring of Tamil
diaspora activity in coordination with foreign governments.
The United States provided training for relevant Sri Lankan
government agencies and the banking sector in combating the provision of
financial support to the LTTE remnants.
The Sri Lankan government implemented the Container Security
Initiative and the Megaports programme at the Port of Colombo.
Regional and International Cooperation: In October, the Financial
Intelligence Unit (FIU) of Sri Lanka signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the FIU of Bangladesh to share financial
information to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of persons
suspected of money laundering and terrorist financing. Sri Lanka has
already signed MOUs with the Philippines, Nepal, Cambodia, Malaysia,
Afghanistan, South Korea, and Indonesia.
Countering Radicalization and Violent Extremism: In order to address
lingering resentment in areas that were formerly held by LTTE
combatants, the Sri Lankan government was working to restore civil
administration, resettle Internally Displaced Persons, provide immediate
infrastructure development, encourage private sector participation, and
promote the development of industries. |