[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 757 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. RES. 757
Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of the peaceful
democratic and economic aspirations of the Sri Lankan people.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 13, 2022
Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Leahy, and Mr. Booker)
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of the peaceful
democratic and economic aspirations of the Sri Lankan people.
Whereas Sri Lanka gained its independence peacefully in 1948, bringing an end to
British colonial rule;
Whereas, more than 100,000 Sri Lankans died or went missing in subsequent
decades of ethnic conflict, most acutely at the end of the civil war in
May 2009;
Whereas the roots of the conflict, including historical inequalities, remain
largely unresolved;
Whereas the period of peace, which began in 2009, contributed to Sri Lanka's
high growth and economic development, building on a tourism-based
economy;
Whereas Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as Sri Lanka's President on November 16,
2019, and on November 21, 2019, he appointed his brother, Mahinda
Rajapaksa, as Prime Minister;
Whereas Sri Lanka's governance under President Rajapaksa was highly corrupt,
nepotistic, and lacked transparency;
Whereas, on August 8, 2020, Human Rights Watch described President Rajapaksa's
rule in 2020 as ``a campaign of fear and intimidation against human
rights activists, journalists, lawyers, and others challenging
government policy'';
Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka declined $480,000,000 in United States
assistance in 2020 in the form of a grant from the Millennium Challenge
Corporation, which was designed to reduce poverty through economic
growth;
Whereas, the Government of Sri Lanka, under the rule of President Rajapaksa--
(1) devoted state resources for personal political purposes with little
transparency;
(2) implemented misguided agricultural policies; and
(3) borrowed billions of dollars from China to develop economically
unviable mega projects;
Whereas, since 2019, Sri Lanka has faced an economic crisis, only further
exacerbated by predatory loans from the People's Republic of China as
part of its debt trap diplomacy;
Whereas Sri Lanka's economic crisis caused millions of Sri Lankan citizens to
live in extremely dire conditions, with severe shortages of medicine,
food, and fuel;
Whereas many Sri Lankans have immigrated in search of income to support their
families as a result of the ongoing crises, often separating spouses and
parents from children;
Whereas, beginning in March 2022, the citizens of Sri Lanka courageously
exercised their fundamental freedoms of speech and assembly to
peacefully protest the government's failed economic policies and
repression;
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 on July 9, 2022, to which the government responded with live
fire and tear gas;
Whereas the events of July 9, 2022, demonstrated that President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa has lost the confidence of the Sri Lankan people;
Whereas, on July 20, 2022, the parliament of Sri Lanka elected Ranil
Wickremesinghe as President of Sri Lanka;
Whereas the current Government of Sri Lanka has thus far failed to respond to
public concerns, including establishment of transparent investigations
into credible allegations of corruption;
Whereas, on July 13, 2022, amid mounting public protests, Gotabaya Rajapaksa
fled Sri Lanka for Singapore where he formally resigned as president,
only to return to Sri Lanka on September 3, 2022;
Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has used the country's Prevention of
Terrorism Act to target peaceful political opposition;
Whereas the United States cosponsored United Nations Human Rights Council
resolution, HRC 46/1 (2021), 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 the 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 the United Nations Human Rights Council will discuss the human rights
situation in Sri Lanka at its upcoming 51st regular session in September
2022; and
Whereas President Wickremesinghe announced that Sri Lanka--
(1) would restart bailout negotiations with the International Monetary
Fund in August 2022; and
(2) had reached an initial agreement on September 1, 2022: Now,
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) supports the peaceful democratic and economic
aspirations of the Sri Lankan people;
(2) urges Sri Lankan security forces to respect the
legitimate rights of Sri Lankans, including to protest
peacefully;
(3) urges Sri Lankan President Wickremesinghe to work with
opposition parties on behalf of all Sri Lankans, including
Tamils, Muslims, and other religious and ethnic minorities;
(4) commends the United States Agency for International
Development for announcing more than $92,000,000 in economic
and humanitarian assistance to Sri Lanka since June 2022;
(5) commends the International Monetary Fund for calling
for structural reforms to address corruption vulnerabilities
that hamper Sri Lanka's long-term potential growth;
(6) commends the Government of India for providing more
than $3,500,000,000 in lines of credit to the Government of Sri
Lanka for food, medicine, and fuel;
(7) commends the Government of Japan and the Government of
Australia for providing urgent medicine, food, and health care
assistance for the Sri Lankan people;
(8) calls on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue nations to
mobilize additional humanitarian assistance, provide
desperately needed fuel, and offer economic support and advice
to the Government of Sri Lanka;
(9) 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 report that was published on February 25, 2022; and
(10) calls on the United National Human Rights Council to
extend and reinforce the Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights' mandate from HRC 46/1 (2021) for an additional 2
years and to fully resource the Sri Lanka Accountability
Project.
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