Human Rights Watch, an International Human Rights Watch, lashed out at the Sri Lankan government today for s still using draconian anti-terror laws that give police sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspects despite promising to abolish them.

"The Sri Lankan government has been all talk and no action on repealing the reviled PTA," said HRW's Asia director Brad Adams as the rights group released a new 46 page report detailing alleged abuses under the act.

"Replacing this draconian counterterrorism law with one that meets international standards should be an urgent priority if the government is serious about protecting human rights."

Sri Lanka says more than 80 detainees are still being held under the act, although local rights activists believe the true number could be in the hundreds.

HRW said it found the PTA was a "significant contributing factor" toward the persistence of torture in Sri Lanka nearly a decade after the end of the civil war.