Observing 10 years since the war in Sri Lanka ended on May 18, 2009, commemorating the lives lost, and expressing support for transitional justice, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reform in Sri Lanka, which are necessary to ensure a lasting peace and a prosperous future for all Sri Lankans.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 442 Observing 10 years since the war in Sri Lanka ended on May 18, 2009, commemorating the lives lost, and expressing support for transitional justice, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reform in Sri Lanka, which are necessary to ensure a lasting peace and a prosperous future for all Sri Lankans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 13, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio (for himself, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. BALDERSON, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. CHABOT, and Mr. ROSE of New York) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned RESOLUTION Observing 10 years since the war in Sri Lanka ended on May 18, 2009, commemorating the lives lost, and ex- pressing support for transitional justice, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reform in Sri Lanka, which are necessary to ensure a lasting peace and a prosperous future for all Sri Lankans. Whereas May 18, 2019, marks the 10-year anniversary of the end of the 26-year armed conflict between the Govern- ment of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE); VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 442 IH Whereas the people of Sri Lanka, including all religious and ethnic groups, suffered greatly as a result of this conflict, the impact and aftermath of which has been felt espe- cially by women, children, and families; Whereas violence and counterviolence during and after the civil war affected all communities; Whereas the Tamil community was subjected to tens of thou- sands of deaths, disappearances, and other human rights abuses, and both Muslim and Tamil communities were subjected to massive displacements; Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka expressed its commit- ment to addressing the needs of all ethnic groups and has recognized in the past the necessity of a political settle- ment to build a peaceful, equitable, and democratic soci- ety; Whereas 256 people died in the terror attacks on Easter Sun- day, 2019, including 5 Americans, and 70 percent of the victims are estimated to be Tamil Christians, a commu- nity that suffered greatly during the war; Whereas the Easter attacks demonstrate that postwar rec- onciliation between Sri Lanka’s diverse communities, par- ticularly between the Sinhalese Buddhists who dominate the government and security forces, and other commu- nities on this very diverse and cosmopolitan island is cru- cial to building a new society, that violence and discrimi- nation against Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Tamils must end, while promised political, legal, and security sector reforms must be undertaken, and that a large mili- tary and antiterror laws alone do not assure security; Whereas since the end of the war, the Government of Sri Lanka has resettled many of the internally displaced per- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HRES 442 IH sons (IDPs), returned some of the private and state land held by the military, appointed civilian governors in the North and East, rebuilt some of the infrastructure de- stroyed by the war, and maintained the peace; Whereas in the absence of Sri Lanka implementing the rec- ommendations of its own Lessons Learned and Reconcili- ation Commission or instituting a credible justice mecha- nism to investigate serious crimes committed during and after the war, the United States led resolutions in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in 2012, 2013, and 2014 calling in ever stronger terms for domestic action and reconciliation; Whereas the United Nation’s Office of the High Commis- sioner for Human Rights issued a report in 2015 (the OISL Report) which outlined the occurrence of war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law during the war; Whereas following a change in government in Sri Lanka, the release of the OISL Report and the recommendations of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United States cosponsored with Sri Lanka a UNHRC resolution in 2015, HRC/30/1, which was reaffirmed in 2017; Whereas in HRC 30/1 the Sri Lankan government made transitional justice commitments for postwar reconcili- ation including an accountability mechanism with a spe- cial court inclusive of Commonwealth and foreign judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and investigators, a truth commis- sion, an office of missing persons, and an office of rep- arations and institutional reforms aimed at nonrecur- rence, along with a number of confidence-building meas- ures; VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HRES 442 IH Whereas Sri Lanka has held consultations with victims con- cerning their transitional justice needs, acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of All Per- sons from Enforced Disappearance and incorporated that treaty into domestic law as of 2018, established an Office of National Unity and Reconciliation, operationalized the Office of Missing Persons, legislated an Office of Repara- tions, discussed a Truth Commission, debated replace- ment of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to comply with international standards for arrest and detention by secu- rity forces and attempted to legislate a new constitution to provide the needed federalism to the North and East that was a root cause of the war; Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka must meet its com- mitments to political, legal, and security sector reforms in order to assure nonrecurrence of conflict; Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has not taken tangible steps toward security sector reform, including demili- tarization of civilian functions, particularly in the North and East, or followed through on commitments to fully return or provide full restitution for the continued mili- tary presence on private and leased state lands in the North and East, which continues to prevent the resettle- ment of internally displaced persons who desire a return to peaceful life; Whereas the Sri Lankan government security forces are re- ported to continue to act with impunity against ethnic and religious communities, using methods of abduction, torture, sexual violence, and detention without trial; Whereas no effort has been made to bring to justice those who have been alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, no investigations have begun VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HRES 442 IH even on emblematic cases, and impunity prevails in the country with the outdated and the excessively harsh Pre- vention of Terrorism Act which does not comply with international standards still not repealed despite repeated promises by the government; Whereas families of individuals who disappeared during and immediately following the civil war still have no informa- tion regarding the whereabouts of their loved ones and no lists of those persons who surrendered to the government after the end of the civil war in May 2009 have been published; Whereas the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Bachelet, in her address to the Human Rights Council on March 20, 2019, noted, ‘‘There has been minimal progress on accountability’’, and insisted that Sri Lanka’s efforts in fulfilling all commitments made in Resolution 30/1 must be accelerated and implemented in a consistent and comprehensive manner; Whereas democratic institutions played a strong role in allow- ing for the peaceful resolution of the political situation that arose in Sri Lanka from October to December 2018; Whereas the constitutional crisis in October 2018, the terror attacks of April 21, 2019, the upcoming elections, and ongoing ethnic tension should not be allowed to prevent the implementation of reform measures; and Whereas progress on domestic and international investiga- tions into reports of war crimes, crimes against human- ity, and other human rights violations during the conflict and promoting reconciliation would facilitate United States engagement and investment in Sri Lanka: Now, therefore, be it VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HRES 442 IH Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) acknowledges the 10th anniversary of the 2 end of the war in Sri Lanka and offers its deepest 3 condolences to all those affected by the war in Sri 4 Lanka; 5 (2) honors the memory of those who died and 6 reaffirms its solidarity with the Sri Lankan people 7 of all communities in their search for reconciliation, 8 reconstruction, reparation, and reform; 9 (3) commends the Government of Sri Lanka for 10 its commitments made to reconciliation and non- 11 recurrence of conflict between its diverse ethnic and 12 religious communities through its reaffirmation by 13 cosponsoring UN Human Rights Council Resolution 14 HRC/40/1 in March 2019; 15 (4) urges the Government of Sri Lanka to fol- 16 low through on its commitments regarding transi- 17 tional justice, accountability, and reconciliation with- 18 out delay and in an integrated manner by creating 19 a time-bound action plan in close consultation with 20 the Office of the High Commissioner for Human 21 Rights; 22 (5) calls on the United States to work with the 23 Government of Sri Lanka to prioritize a process of 24 security sector reform throughout the country; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HRES 442 IH (6) acknowledges the importance for parties to 1 reach a political settlement on the meaningful decen- 2 tralization of power and power sharing; 3 (7) recommends the use of the Magnitsky Act 4 to prevent individuals credibly accused of war crimes 5 and crimes against humanity from entering the 6 United States or holding property in the United 7 States, and the use of the Alien Tort Claims Act to 8 prosecute individuals credibly accused of war crimes 9 and crimes against humanity; 10 (8) recommends the thorough vetting of individ- 11 uals and units of the Sri Lankan security forces be- 12 fore engagement with the United States military and 13 encourages the Department of Defense to remain 14 sensitive to the complicated ethnic and religious ten- 15 sions that continue to exist in postwar Sri Lanka; 16 and 17 (9) urges the United States to work with the 18 United Nations General Assembly and the United 19 Nations Human Rights Council to establish a cred- 20 ible and effective mechanism for accountability for 21 the grave crimes committed during the war in Sri 22 Lanka. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS