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 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. 

Whereas May 18, 2019, marks the 10-year anniversary of the 

end of the 26-year armed conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil 

Eelam (LTTE); 


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•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 especially 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 thousands 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 commitment to addressing the needs of all ethnic groups and has 

recognized in the past the necessity of a political settlement to build a peaceful, equitable, and democratic society; 

Whereas 256 people died in the terror attacks on Easter Sunday, 2019, including 5 Americans, and 70 percent of the 

victims are estimated to be Tamil Christians, a community that suffered greatly during the war; 

Whereas the Easter attacks demonstrate that postwar reconciliation between Sri Lanka’s diverse communities, particularly between the Sinhalese Buddhists who dominate 

the government and security forces, and other communities on this very diverse and cosmopolitan island is crucial to building a new society, that violence and discrimination against Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Tamils 

must end, while promised political, legal, and security 

sector reforms must be undertaken, and that a large military 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 perVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR442.IH HR442

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•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 destroyed by the war, and maintained the peace; 

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 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 Commissioner 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 reconciliation including an accountability mechanism with a special court inclusive of Commonwealth and foreign judges, 

prosecutors, lawyers, and investigators, a truth commission, an office of missing persons, and an office of reparations and institutional reforms aimed at nonrecurrence, along with a number of confidence-building measures; 


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•HRES 442 IH 

Whereas Sri Lanka has held consultations with victims concerning their transitional justice needs, acceded to the 

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons 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 Reparations, discussed a Truth Commission, debated replacement of the Prevention of Terrorism Act to comply with 

international standards for arrest and detention by security 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 commitments 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 demilitarization of civilian functions, particularly in the North 

and East, or followed through on commitments to fully 

return or provide full restitution for the continued military presence on private and leased state lands in the 

North and East, which continues to prevent the resettlement of internally displaced persons who desire a return 

to peaceful life; 

Whereas the Sri Lankan government security forces are reported 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 


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•HRES 442 IH 

even on emblematic cases, and impunity prevails in the 

country with the outdated and the excessively harsh Prevention 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 information 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 allowing 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 investigations into reports of war crimes, crimes against humanity, 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 


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•HRES 442 IH 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) acknowledges the 10th anniversary of the 

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

4 condolences to all those affected by the war in Sri 

5 Lanka; 

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

7 reaffirms its solidarity with the Sri Lankan people 

8 of all communities in their search for reconciliation, 

9 reconstruction, reparation, and reform; 

10 (3) commends the Government of Sri Lanka for 

11 its commitments made to reconciliation and non12 recurrence of conflict between its diverse ethnic and 

13 religious communities through its reaffirmation by 

14 cosponsoring UN Human Rights Council Resolution 

15 HRC/40/1 in March 2019; 

16 (4) urges the Government of Sri Lanka to fol17 low through on its commitments regarding transi18 tional justice, accountability, and reconciliation with19 out delay and in an integrated manner by creating 

20 a time-bound action plan in close consultation with 

21 the Office of the High Commissioner for Human 

22 Rights; 

23 (5) calls on the United States to work with the 

24 Government of Sri Lanka to prioritize a process of 

25 security sector reform throughout the country; 


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•HRES 442 IH 

1 (6) acknowledges the importance for parties to 

2 reach a political settlement on the meaningful decen3 tralization of power and power sharing; 

4 (7) recommends the use of the Magnitsky Act 

5 to prevent individuals credibly accused of war crimes 

6 and crimes against humanity from entering the 

7 United States or holding property in the United 

8 States, and the use of the Alien Tort Claims Act to 

9 prosecute individuals credibly accused of war crimes 

10 and crimes against humanity; 

11 (8) recommends the thorough vetting of individ12 uals and units of the Sri Lankan security forces be13 fore engagement with the United States military and 

14 encourages the Department of Defense to remain 

15 sensitive to the complicated ethnic and religious ten16 sions that continue to exist in postwar Sri Lanka; 

17 and 

18 (9) urges the United States to work with the 

19 United Nations General Assembly and the United 

20 Nations Human Rights Council to establish a cred21 ible and effective mechanism for accountability for 

22 the grave crimes committed during the war in Sri 

23 Lanka. 

Æ 


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