[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 19, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              INVESTIGATE ALLEGED WAR CRIMES IN SRI LANKA

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                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 19, 2010

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, May 19 commemorates the one-
year anniversary of the end of the war and the remembrance of the many 
lives lost during the civil war in Sri Lanka. I call on the 
international community to pursue independent investigations into the 
alleged war crimes that occurred. The U.S. would not be alone in 
calling for these investigations. The UN High Commissioner for Human 
Rights and the European Union have already called for independent 
investigations. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other 
NGOs have called for similar investigations of war crimes, crimes 
against humanity and human rights violations. The alleged crimes 
include:
   Extrajudicial abuse and detention of unarmed civilians and 
former combatants;
   use of child soldiers;
   harm to civilians and civilian objects;
   the killing of captives or combatants seeking to surrender;
   individual disappearances; and
   inhumane conditions.
  All parties complicit in violating human rights must be held 
accountable. Only then can the Sri Lankan people really move forward in 
trying to achieve peace and stability on the island.

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