IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 427 

Recognizing 14 years since the end of the war in Sri Lanka on May 18, 

2009, honoring the lives lost, and expressing support for justice, accountability, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reform in Sri Lanka 

to ensure a lasting peaceful political solution and a prosperous future 

for all people of Sri Lanka. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 18, 2023 

Ms. ROSS (for herself, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. NICKEL, Mr. DAVIS of 

North Carolina, Mr. JACKSON of North Carolina, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, and Mrs. MCBATH) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing 14 years since the end of the war in Sri Lanka 

on May 18, 2009, honoring the lives lost, and expressing 

support for justice, accountability, reconciliation, reconstruction, reparation, and reform in Sri Lanka to ensure 

a lasting peaceful political solution and a prosperous 

future for all people of Sri Lanka. 

Whereas May 18, 2023, marks the 14-year anniversary of the 

end of the 26-year armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and various armed Tamil independence organizations, including the Liberation Tigers of 

Tamil Eelam; 


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•HRES 427 IH 

Whereas all communities suffered from violence and counterviolence during the ethnic war; 

Whereas the Tamil people of Sri Lanka suffered tens of thousands of deaths, disappearances, abuses, and displacements; 

Whereas the ethnic war was marked by credible allegations 

of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of violence committed by the Sri Lankan Government, including through the military’s deliberate shelling of civilians 

in government-designated no fire zones during the war’s 

final months in 2009, in which 40,000 to 170,000 Tamils 

were presumed to have been killed; 

Whereas in the absence of Sri Lanka implementing the recommendations of its own Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission or instituting a credible justice mechanism to investigate serious crimes committed during and 

after the war, the United States sponsored 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 Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report in 2015 (the 

OISL Report) that outlined the occurrence of war crimes 

and crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law during the war in Sri Lanka; 

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; 


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•HRES 427 IH 

Whereas under HRC 30/1, the Sri Lankan government made 

transitional justice commitments for postwar reconciliation including— 

(1) an accountability mechanism with a special court 

inclusive of Commonwealth and foreign judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and investigators; 

(2) a truth commission; 

(3) an office of missing persons; 

(4) an office of reparations and institutional reforms 

aimed at nonrecurrence; and 

(5) a number of confidence-building measures; 

Whereas, in continued demonstration of impunity for human 

rights violations and despite serving as a cosponsor of the 

resolution, Sri Lanka withdrew from HRC 30/1 in 2020; 

Whereas the northeastern region of the country, the traditional Tamil homeland, remains heavily militarized with 

up to one soldier for every two civilians in the most waraffected regions; 

Whereas Sri Lanka has passed laws aimed at limiting the 

freedom of expression of the Eelam Tamil community; 

Whereas, in 2018, the Northern Provincial Council of Sri 

Lanka adopted resolutions calling for an international investigation into alleged war crimes committed during the 

armed conflict and for a United Nations-monitored referendum in the northeastern region of the island to support the development of a permanent political solution; 

Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has postponed provincial elections for multiple years, denying all Sri Lankans, 

including the Tamil people in the Northern Province and 

the Eastern Province, their democratic right to local representation; 


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•HRES 427 IH 

Whereas Richard Boucher, Assistant Secretary of State for 

South and Central Asian Affairs, said during a visit to 

Sri Lanka on June 1, 2006, that ‘‘There are legitimate 

issues that are raised by the Tamil community and they 

have a very legitimate desire, as anybody would, to be 

able to control their own lives, to rule their own destinies 

and to govern themselves in their homeland; in the areas 

they’ve traditionally inhabited.’’; 

Whereas a 2021 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the Government 

of Sri Lanka has, over the past year— 

(1) elevated individuals implicated in war crimes to 

senior governmental positions; 

(2) pardoned a convicted war criminal; 

(3) reversed key democratic reforms and consolidated power behind the office of the President; 

(4) obstructed efforts to investigate and prosecute 

perpetrators of war crimes; 

(5) promoted majoritarian and exclusionary rhetoric; 

(6) engaged in surveillance and harassment of civil 

society organizations and human rights advocates; and 

(7) allegedly employed security forces to abduct and 

torture dissidents; 

Whereas the report warns that ‘‘Sri Lanka’s current trajectory sets the scene for the recurrence of the policies and 

practices that gave rise to grave human rights violations’’; 

Whereas the United States cosponsored a UNHRC resolution, HRC 46/1 (2021), led by the United Kingdom, 

which recognizes the lack of accountability for past violations of human rights and international humanitarian law 

in Sri Lanka and directs the Office of the High CommisVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:08 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR427.IH HR427

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•HRES 427 IH 

sioner for Human Rights to collect, analyze, and preserve 

information and evidence for future accountability processes for gross violations of human rights; 

Whereas the United States cosponsored UNHRC resolution, 

HRC 51/1 (2022), which— 

(1) underscores the importance of addressing deepening militarization, lack of accountability in governance, 

and impunity for serious human rights violations and 

abuses; 

(2) recognizes the importance of peaceful protests to 

the effectiveness of democratic systems and democratic 

processes, including elections and referendums; and 

(3) calls upon the Government of Sri Lanka to fulfill 

its commitments on the devolution of political authority 

and to ensure that all provincial councils, including the 

northern and eastern provincial councils, are able to operate effectively; 

Whereas no effort has been made to bring to justice those 

who are alleged to have committed war crimes and crimes 

against humanity, no investigations have begun even on 

emblematic cases, evidence gathering is hindered through 

arbitrary arrests and threats by the state, and impunity 

prevails in the country with the outdated and the excessively harsh Prevention of Terrorism Act, which does not 

comply with international standards and has still not 

been repealed despite repeated promises by the government; 

Whereas the former United Nations High Commissioner for 

Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, stated in January 

2021, ‘‘Given the demonstrated inability and unwillingness of the Government to advance accountability at the 

national level, it is time for international action to ensure 


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•HRES 427 IH 

justice for international crimes. States should also pursue 

investigations and prosecution in their national courts— 

under accepted principles of extraterritorial or universal 

jurisdiction—of international crimes committed by all 

parties in Sri Lanka.’’; 

Whereas Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has 

continued the damaging policies of the Rajapaksas, including state-sponsored land appropriation, occupation 

and destruction of Tamil religious and cultural sites, subjugation of and violence against largely peaceful protests, 

imprisonment of activists, and disregard for calls for justice for past violations; 

Whereas families of individuals who disappeared during and 

following the armed conflict still have no information regarding the whereabouts of their loved ones, and no lists 

of persons who surrendered to the government after the 

end of the armed conflict have been published; and 

Whereas progress on domestic and international investigations into reports of war crimes and human rights during 

the conflict and the promotion of reconciliation would facilitate United States engagement and investment in Sri 

Lanka and demonstrate support for the international rule 

of law: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) acknowledges the 14th anniversary of the 

3 end of the war in Sri Lanka and offers its deepest 

4 condolences to all those affected by the conflict; 

5 (2) honors the memory of those who died and 

6 reaffirms its solidarity with the people of all commuVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:08 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR427.IH HR427

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•HRES 427 IH 

1 nities in Sri Lanka in their search for reconciliation, 

2 reconstruction, reparation, and reform; 

3 (3) commends the United Nations Human 

4 Rights Council for prioritizing the collection and 

5 preservation of evidence related to human rights vio6 lations, a process that must not be interfered with 

7 by the Government of Sri Lanka; 

8 (4) recognizes the bravery and commitment of 

9 advocates for justice across all communities in Sri 

10 Lanka, including the Tamil families of the dis11 appeared, whose protests and demands for answers 

12 have at times been met with threats, intimidation, 

13 and harassment by government security forces; 

14 (5) urges the international community to advo15 cate for and protect the political rights and rep16 resentation of the historically oppressed northeastern 

17 region of Sri Lanka and work towards a permanent 

18 political solution to address the underlying issues 

19 that led to ethnic conflict and ensure nonrecurrence 

20 of violence; 

21 (6) encourages the promotion of universally ac22 cepted democratic principles and systems on the is23 land of Sri Lanka, including through the use of the 

24 referendum process to ensure that peoples of all 

25 ethnicities, including the Eelam Tamil people, are 


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•HRES 427 IH 

1 democratically and equitably represented on the is2 land; 

3 (7) recommends the United States explore in4 vestigations and prosecutions pursuant to the rec5 ommendations of the United Nations High Commis6 sioner for Human Rights; 

7 (8) urges the United States to work with the 

8 United Nations General Assembly, the United Na9 tions Security Council, and the United Nations 

10 Human Rights Council to establish a credible and 

11 effective international mechanism for accountability 

12 for the grave crimes committed during the war in 

13 Sri Lanka; and 

14 (9) encourages the Secretary of State to lever15 age the United States position on the United Na16 tions Security Council to pursue a referral of Sri 

17 Lanka to the International Criminal Court, as out18 lined in the February 2021 report on Sri Lanka 

19 from the United Nations High Commissioner for 

20 Human Rights, which describes ‘‘the referral of the 

21 situation in Sri Lanka to the International Criminal 

22 Court’’ as one option to ‘‘advance criminal account23 ability and provide measures of redress for victims’’. 

Æ 


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