IV 
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) sub-
mitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs 
RESOLUTION 
Calling on the United States Government and the inter-
national 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 humani-
tarian 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 
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•HRES 1338 IH 
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 displace-
ment of over 200,000 people since mid-2006; 
Whereas the LTTE has been responsible for reprehensible 
acts of violence against civilians of all ethnicities, includ-
ing the forcible eviction of as many as 80,000 Muslims 
from the Northern Province in 1990, the killing of hun-
dreds 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 mili-
tary solution to the conflict, which has led to increased 
numbers of disappearances and been used to justify se-
vere 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 Govern-
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•HRES 1338 IH 
ment 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 human-
itarian 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 vio-
lence; 
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•HRES 1338 IH 
(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 pur-
sue a political resolution, rather than a military so-
lution, to the conflict, to allow all necessary relief 
supplies to reach the Northern Province unhindered, 
to investigate and prosecute the numerous dis-
appearances 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 mon-
itoring 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 stake-
holders to the conflict, and the international commu-
nity to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian op-
erations, hold accountable violators of human rights 
and international humanitarian law, and promote 
conditions for a lasting peace through political dia-
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logue that respects the rights of all ethnic and reli-
gious groups in Sri Lanka. 
Æ 
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