III 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 757 

Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of the peaceful democratic 

and economic aspirations of the Sri Lankan people. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BOOKER) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate in support of the peaceful 

democratic and economic aspirations of the Sri Lankan 

people. 

Whereas Sri Lanka gained its independence peacefully in 

1948, bringing an end to British colonial rule; 

Whereas, more than 100,000 Sri Lankans died or went missing in subsequent decades of ethnic conflict, most acutely 

at the end of the civil war in May 2009; 

Whereas the roots of the conflict, including historical inequalities, remain largely unresolved; 

Whereas the period of peace, which began in 2009, contributed to Sri Lanka’s high growth and economic development, building on a tourism-based economy; 


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•SRES 757 IS 

Whereas Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected as Sri Lanka’s 

President on November 16, 2019, and on November 21, 

2019, he appointed his brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, as 

Prime Minister; 

Whereas Sri Lanka’s governance under President Rajapaksa 

was highly corrupt, nepotistic, and lacked transparency; 

Whereas, on August 8, 2020, Human Rights Watch described 

President Rajapaksa’s rule in 2020 as ‘‘a campaign of 

fear and intimidation against human rights activists, 

journalists, lawyers, and others challenging government 

policy’’; 

Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka declined 

$480,000,000 in United States assistance in 2020 in the 

form of a grant from the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which was designed to reduce poverty through economic growth; 

Whereas, the Government of Sri Lanka, under the rule of 

President Rajapaksa— 

(1) devoted state resources for personal political purposes with little transparency; 

(2) implemented misguided agricultural policies; and 

(3) borrowed billions of dollars from China to develop economically unviable mega projects; 

Whereas, since 2019, Sri Lanka has faced an economic crisis, 

only further exacerbated by predatory loans from the 

People’s Republic of China as part of its debt trap diplomacy; 

Whereas Sri Lanka’s economic crisis caused millions of Sri 

Lankan citizens to live in extremely dire conditions, with 

severe shortages of medicine, food, and fuel; 


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•SRES 757 IS 

Whereas many Sri Lankans have immigrated in search of income to support their families as a result of the ongoing 

crises, often separating spouses and parents from children; 

Whereas, beginning in March 2022, the citizens of Sri Lanka 

courageously exercised their fundamental freedoms of 

speech and assembly to peacefully protest the government’s failed economic policies and repression; 

Whereas, the Government of Sri Lanka failed to make its 

bond and loan payments in April 2022, resulting in the 

country’s first financial default in May 2022; 

Whereas tens of thousands of Sri Lankan citizens rallied in 

largely peaceful protests on July 9, 2022, to which the 

government responded with live fire and tear gas; 

Whereas the events of July 9, 2022, demonstrated that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has lost the confidence of the 

Sri Lankan people; 

Whereas, on July 20, 2022, the parliament of Sri Lanka 

elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as President of Sri Lanka; 

Whereas the current Government of Sri Lanka has thus far 

failed to respond to public concerns, including establishment of transparent investigations into credible allegations of corruption; 

Whereas, on July 13, 2022, amid mounting public protests, 

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka for Singapore where 

he formally resigned as president, only to return to Sri 

Lanka on September 3, 2022; 

Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka has used the country’s 

Prevention of Terrorism Act to target peaceful political 

opposition; 


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•SRES 757 IS 

Whereas the United States cosponsored United Nations 

Human Rights Council resolution, HRC 46/1 (2021), includes strengthening the capacity of the Office of the 

High Commissioner for Human Rights to collect, analyze, 

and preserve information and evidence for future accountability processes for gross violations of human 

rights in Sri Lanka; 

Whereas the United Nations High Commissioner for Human 

Rights, Michelle Bachelet, issued a report on February 

25, 2022, noting setbacks in efforts to hold individuals 

accountable for human rights violations in Sri Lanka and 

highlighting the need for ‘‘deeper institutional and security sector reforms that will end impunity and prevent 

the recurrence of violations of the past’’; 

Whereas the September 2022 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Report on Sri Lanka stated, 

‘‘[f]or sustainable improvements to take place, however, 

it is vital to recognize and address the underlying factors 

which have contributed to the economic crisis, including 

embedded impunity for past and present human rights 

violations, economic crimes, and endemic corruption’’; 

Whereas the United Nations Human Rights Council will discuss the human rights situation in Sri Lanka at its upcoming 51st regular session in September 2022; and 

Whereas President Wickremesinghe announced that Sri 

Lanka— 

(1) would restart bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund in August 2022; and 

(2) had reached an initial agreement on September 

1, 2022: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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•SRES 757 IS 

1 (1) supports the peaceful democratic and eco2 nomic aspirations of the Sri Lankan people; 

3 (2) urges Sri Lankan security forces to respect 

4 the legitimate rights of Sri Lankans, including to 

5 protest peacefully; 

6 (3) urges Sri Lankan President 

7 Wickremesinghe to work with opposition parties on 

8 behalf of all Sri Lankans, including Tamils, Mus9 lims, and other religious and ethnic minorities; 

10 (4) commends the United States Agency for 

11 International Development for announcing more 

12 than $92,000,000 in economic and humanitarian as13 sistance to Sri Lanka since June 2022; 

14 (5) commends the International Monetary Fund 

15 for calling for structural reforms to address corrup16 tion vulnerabilities that hamper Sri Lanka’s long17 term potential growth; 

18 (6) commends the Government of India for pro19 viding more than $3,500,000,000 in lines of credit 

20 to the Government of Sri Lanka for food, medicine, 

21 and fuel; 

22 (7) commends the Government of Japan and 

23 the Government of Australia for providing urgent 

24 medicine, food, and health care assistance for the 

25 Sri Lankan people; 


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•SRES 757 IS 

1 (8) calls on the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue 

2 nations to mobilize additional humanitarian assist3 ance, provide desperately needed fuel, and offer eco4 nomic support and advice to the Government of Sri 

5 Lanka; 

6 (9) urges the United Nations Human Rights 

7 Council and the Government of Sri Lanka to imple8 ment the recommendations detailed in the United 

9 Nations High Commissioner for Human Right’s re10 port that was published on February 25, 2022; and 

11 (10) calls on the United National Human 

12 Rights Council to extend and reinforce the Office of 

13 the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ mandate 

14 from HRC 46/1 (2021) for an additional 2 years 

15 and to fully resource the Sri Lanka Accountability 

16 Project. 

Æ 


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