[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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