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[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1338 Introduced in House (IH)]

110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1338

Calling on the United States Government and the international community 
     to support a transition to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka by 
    encouraging an international human rights monitoring presence, 
protecting the work of civil society and media, facilitating access of 
 humanitarian operations, and retaining democratic principles in which 
                   rule of law and justice pervades.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 10, 2008

  Mr. Sherman (for himself, Mr. Pallone, and Mr. Weller of Illinois) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
                           on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Calling on the United States Government and the international community 
     to support a transition to sustainable peace in Sri Lanka by 
    encouraging an international human rights monitoring presence, 
protecting the work of civil society and media, facilitating access of 
 humanitarian operations, and retaining democratic principles in which 
                   rule of law and justice pervades.

Whereas beginning on July 23, 1983, Sri Lanka experienced 10 days of brutal 
        violence known as ``Black July'' during which an attack by the 
        Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) killed 13 Sri Lankan Army 
        soldiers and the Government of Sri Lanka failed to stop mobs that killed 
        a reported 3,000 or more ethnic Tamils and destroyed an estimated 
        $300,000,000 worth of property;
Whereas the conflict of the last 25 years has seen the deaths of over 75,000 
        primarily Tamil people and the emigration of as many as 1,500,000 
        civilians, who were forced to flee the fighting;
Whereas a ceasefire agreement was reached in February 2002 between the LTTE and 
        the Government of Sri Lanka;
Whereas the breakdown of the 2002 ceasefire has resulted in the killing of 
        hundreds of civilians and internal displacement of over 200,000 people 
        since mid-2006;
Whereas the LTTE has been responsible for reprehensible acts of violence against 
        civilians of all ethnicities, including the forcible eviction of as many 
        as 80,000 Muslims from the Northern Province in 1990, the killing of 
        hundreds of people since 2006, as well as suicide bombings, and other 
        violent actions that have obstructed the peace process;
Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has pursued a military solution to the 
        conflict, which has led to increased numbers of disappearances and been 
        used to justify severe restrictions on humanitarian aid workers, which 
        have severely undermined the chances of a renewed peace process;
Whereas neither the Government of Sri Lanka nor the LTTE are actively engaged in 
        pursuing a political solution to the conflict;
Whereas the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a paramilitary group now 
        formally allied with the Government of Sri Lanka, continues to commit 
        serious human rights violations and criminal acts with impunity;
Whereas both the LTTE and the government-supported TMVP have been documented to 
        use and recruit child soldiers, and this practice, despite recent 
        releases by the TMVP, remains a significant concern to the United States 
        and the international community; and
Whereas numerous other human rights violations have been committed by all sides 
        in the conflict and continue to be reported, including extrajudicial 
        killings, shelling and bombing of civilian areas, unnecessary prevention 
        of the delivery of humanitarian aid, undue restrictions on the freedom 
        of movement of internally displaced persons, and widespread impunity for 
        serious human rights violations: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes the 25th anniversary of ``Black July'' and 
        mourns its victims and the victims of the ongoing violence in 
        Sri Lanka that has followed;
            (2) expresses concern for the human rights and humanitarian 
        crises that are still occurring in Sri Lanka and condemns the 
        denial of adequate humanitarian aid to the civilian population 
        and attacks on the media with impunity;
            (3) condemns the continued attacks on civilian populations 
        by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and urges the 
        immediate cessation of violence;
            (4) urges the LTTE and the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal 
        (TMVP) to immediately end all recruitment of children as 
        soldiers and to release all child soldiers currently in their 
        ranks;
            (5) urges the Government of Sri Lanka to pursue a political 
        resolution, rather than a military solution, to the conflict, 
        to allow all necessary relief supplies to reach the Northern 
        Province unhindered, to investigate and prosecute the numerous 
        disappearances and attacks on humanitarian workers and the 
        media, to take immediate steps to address the legitimate 
        grievances of the Muslim, Tamil, and all other minority 
        communities and to provide safe living conditions for 
        internally displaced people;
            (6) calls upon the President to publicly urge Sri Lanka to 
        accept an international human rights monitoring presence on the 
        island, which would deter, monitor, investigate, and report 
        attacks; and
            (7) supports United States efforts to work with the 
        Government of Sri Lanka, other relevant stakeholders to the 
        conflict, and the international community to protect civilians, 
        facilitate humanitarian operations, hold accountable violators 
        of human rights and international humanitarian law, and promote 
        conditions for a lasting peace through political dialogue that 
        respects the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in Sri 
        Lanka.
                                 <all>
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