[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 82 (Thursday, May 16, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF SRI LANKA'S CIVIL WAR

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                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 16, 2019

  Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise to commemorate the tenth 
anniversary of the end of Sri Lanka's thirty-year long civil war. This 
Remembrance Day is observed to remember and mark the sacrifices made by 
all those who died, irrespective of their ethnicity, in the civil war.
   Sadly, the hope that the end of this brutal war would usher peace in 
the country, and that Sri Lanka's many communities would be reconciled 
with each other, has not been realized. The Sri Lankan government won 
the war, but it has not yet won peace. The tragic Easter Sunday 
bombings in April and tensions between different communities thereafter 
are a reminder of the divisions that still exist in the country.
   The current Sri Lankan government came to power in 2015 with the 
overwhelming support of the Tamil and Muslim communities. These 
communities were encouraged by this government's promise to act on 
allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during 
the civil war, as outlined in the September 2015 report by the Office 
of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In response to this 
report, Sri Lanka and the United States cosponsored UN Human Rights 
Commission Resolution 30/1, ``Promoting reconciliation, accountability 
and human rights in Sri Lanka,'' in 2015.
   Unfortunately, the Sri Lankan government has not fulfilled the 
commitments it made in that resolution, which, if implemented, would 
have promoted justice, peace, and reconciliation in the country. This 
year, at the Human Rights Council, Sri Lanka's government once again 
committed itself to reconciliation by cosponsoring Resolution 40/1, 
again titled ``promoting reconciliation, accountability and human 
rights in Sri Lanka.''
   I urge the Sri Lankan government to work towards implementing the 
provisions of the resolutions that it has cosponsored. This will help 
heal the deep wounds that divide various communities in Sri Lanka. It 
can also help Sri Lanka keep its important commitments to the 
international community.

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