[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1493 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1493
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of the
peaceful democratic and economic aspirations of the people of Sri
Lanka.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 25, 2022
Mr. Krishnamoorthi submitted the following resolution; which was
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in support of the
peaceful democratic and economic aspirations of the people of Sri
Lanka.
Whereas, for more than 30 years, Sri Lanka was enveloped in a civil war, the
root causes of which remain largely unresolved;
Whereas more than 100,000 Sri Lankans died, were forcibly disappeared, or went
missing during the ethnic conflict, most acutely during the final months
of the war in 2009;
Whereas, at the end of the visit by the United Nations Secretary General in May
2009, the Sri Lankan Government leaders gave assurances on
accountability, and the country's leaders had an opportunity to create a
sustainable peace, but failed to do so;
Whereas the period following the war's end contributed to Sri Lanka's economic
growth and development, but heavy militarization of the north and east
Provinces continued and underlying structural problems remained;
Whereas, in March 2015, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted
resolution HRC 30/1, with the concurrence of the Sri Lankan Government,
laying out a transitional justice process for accountability and
reconciliation, but successive governments failed to implement key
aspects of the resolution, and in March 2020, the Gotabaya Rajapaksa
administration withdrew its commitments to implement the resolution;
Whereas, on August 8, 2020, Human Rights Watch described President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa's rule in 2020 as ``a campaign of fear and intimidation
against human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and others
challenging government policy'';
Whereas, despite continued calls on the Government of Sri Lanka by the United
States, India, and other friends of Sri Lanka to address longstanding
issues of accountability and reconciliation related to the root causes
of the country's ethnic conflict, many of the underlying issues remain
unaddressed, including impunity for human rights violations and alleged
war crimes;
Whereas Sri Lanka's current economic crisis caused millions of Sri Lankan
citizens to live in extremely dire conditions, with severe shortages of
medicine, food, and fuel;
Whereas numerous factors contributed to Sri Lanka's economic crisis, including
corruption, the government's own financial mismanagement, the lack of
postwar security sector reform, outsized expenditures on the military,
commercial debt, expensive projects--sometimes paid for by
unrealistically adverse termed debt funded by the People's Republic of
China, the April 2019 Easter bombings, and the global coronavirus
pandemic;
Whereas the United States Agency for International Development announced more
than $92,000,000 in economic and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka
since June 2022;
Whereas the Government of India has provided more than $3,500,000,000 in lines
of credit to the Government of Sri Lanka for food, medicine, and fuel
and the Governments of Japan and Australia have provided urgent
medicine, food, and health care assistance for the Sri Lankan people;
Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka failed to make its bond and loan payments in
April 2022, resulting in the country's first financial default in May
2022;
Whereas tens of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens rallied in largely peaceful
protests lasting more than 100 days and on July 9, 2022, the government
responded with live fire and tear gas;
Whereas the events of July 9, 2022, demonstrated that President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa lost the confidence of the people of Sri Lanka;
Whereas, on July 20, 2022, following the resignation of President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, the Parliament of Sri Lanka elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as
President of Sri Lanka;
Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has thus far failed to respond to public
concerns, including the establishment of transparent investigations into
credible allegations of corruption and human rights violations;
Whereas the Sri Lankan Government continues to use heavy-handed instruments of
the state to silence dissent and protest, and has implemented and used
the country's Prevention of Terrorism Act to target peaceful political
opposition, detain indefinitely without charge, and harass minorities,
activists, and journalists;
Whereas the Sri Lankan Government continues to participate in and promote
illegal land appropriation in traditional minority areas, including of
Tamils and Muslims;
Whereas the United States cosponsored United Nations Human Rights Council
Resolution 46/1 (2021), which includes strengthening the capacity of the
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect, analyze,
and preserve information and evidence for future accountability
processes for gross violations of human rights in Sri Lanka;
Whereas United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet,
issued a report on February 25, 2022, noting setbacks in efforts to hold
individuals accountable for human rights violations in Sri Lanka and
highlighting the need for ``deeper institutional and security sector
reforms that will end impunity and prevent the recurrence of violations
of the past'';
Whereas the September 2022 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Report on Sri Lanka stated, ``[f]or sustainable improvements to take
place, however, it is vital to recognize and address the underlying
factors which have contributed to the economic crisis, including
embedded impunity for past and present human rights violations, economic
crimes, and endemic corruption'';
Whereas President Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka--
(1) would restart bailout negotiations with the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) in August 2022; and
(2) had reached an initial agreement with the IMF on September 1, 2022;
and
Whereas, under United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution 51/1 (2022), the
United Nations Human Rights Council extended and reinforced the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' mandate from United Nations
Human Rights Council Resolution 46/1 (2021) for an additional 2 years:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the peaceful democratic and economic
aspirations of the people of Sri Lanka;
(2) urges the Sri Lankan Government and security forces to
respect the rights of Sri Lankans, particularly minority
peoples, including to protest peacefully without fear of
reproach;
(3) urges Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe to reach a
consensus on major issues with opposition parties on behalf of
all Sri Lankans, including Tamils, Indian-origin Tamils,
Muslims, and other religious and ethnic minorities to address
longstanding issues, including relating to human rights,
disenfranchisement, accountability, and reconciliation, and
work toward a political solution;
(4) calls on the Government of Sri Lanka to promote an
inclusive, pluralistic vision for Sri Lanka through
implementing significant structural reforms and confidence-
building measures to address corruption and vulnerabilities
that hamper Sri Lanka's long-term potential growth, including
outsized expenditures on the military;
(5) urges the Sri Lankan Government to repeal the
Prevention of Terrorism Act, which is used to target peaceful
political opposition and detain indefinitely without charge and
harass minorities, activists, and journalists;
(6) calls for the immediate halting of land appropriation
by the Sri Lankan Government and the restitution of
appropriated lands;
(7) urges the United Nations Human Rights Council and the
Government of Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations
detailed in the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Right's reports that were published on February 25, 2022, and
September 6, 2022, and further urges the Government of Sri
Lanka to facilitate the implementation of HRC/51/1 promoting
accountability and reconciliation;
(8) supports the creation of additional United Nations
fact-finding missions into the current state of human rights
and corruption in Sri Lanka; and
(9) calls on the Sri Lankan Government to recognize the
thousands of civilians that were killed, forcibly disappeared,
or missing in the final years of the civil war.
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