,,iv  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,h4 ,,res4 #ddb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of
 ,,representatives  ,june #ac1 #bjai,mr4
 ,johnson of ,ohio 7for himself1 ,mr4   
,danny ,k4 ,davis of ,illinois1 ,mr4    
,balderson1 ,mr4 ,stivers1 ,mr4 ,chabot1
 and ,mr4 ,rose of ,new ,york7 submitted
 the following resolution2 which was    
referred to the ,committee on ,foreign  
,affairs1 and in addition to the        
,committee on ,armed ,services1 for a   
period to be subsequently determined by 
the ,speaker1 in each case for          
consideration of such provisions as fall
 within the jurisdiction of the         
committee concerned  ,,resolution       
,observing #aj years since the war in   
,sri ,lanka ended on ,may #ah1 #bjji1   
commemorating the lives lost1 and       
expressing support for transitional     
justice1 reconciliation1 reconstruction1
 reparation1 and reform in ,sri ,lanka1 
which are necessary to ensure a lasting 
peace and a prosperous future for all   
,sri ,lankans4  ,whereas ,may #ah1      

#bjai1 marks the #aj-year anniversary of
 the end of the #bf-year armed conflict 
between the ,government of ,sri ,lanka  
and the ,liberation ,tigers of ,tamil   
,eelam 7,,ltte72 ,whereas the people of 
,sri ,lanka1 including all religious and
 ethnic groups1 suffered greatly as a   
result of this conflict1 the impact and 
aftermath of which has been felt        
especially by women1 children1 and      
families2 ,whereas violence and         
counterviolence during and after the    
civil war affected all communities2     
,whereas the ,tamil community was       
subjected to tens of thousands of       
deaths1 disappearances1 and other human 
rights abuses1 and both ,muslim and     
,tamil communities were subjected to    
massive displacements2 ,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 peaceful1         
equitable1 and democratic society2      

,whereas #bef people died in the terror 
attacks on ,easter ,sunday1 #bjai1      
including #e ,americans1 and #gj percent
 of the victims are estimated to be     
,tamil ,christians1 a community that    
suffered greatly during the war2        
,whereas the ,easter attacks demonstrate
 that postwar reconciliation between    
,sri ,lanka's diverse communities1      
particularly between the ,sinhalese     
,buddhists who dominate the government  
and security forces1 and other          
communities on this very diverse and    
cosmopolitan island is crucial to       
building a new society1 that violence   
and discrimination against ,christians1 
,muslims1 ,hindus1 and ,tamils must end1
 while promised political1 legal1 and   
security sector reforms must be         
undertaken1 and that a large military   
and antiterror laws alone do not assure 
security2 ,whereas since the end of the 
war1 the ,government of ,sri ,lanka has 
resettled many of the internally        
displaced persons 7,i,d,ps71 returned   

some of the private and state land held 
by the military1 appointed civilian     
governors in the ,north and ,east1      
rebuilt some of the infrastructure      
destroyed by the war1 and maintained the
 peace2 ,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 war1 the ,united  
,states led resolutions in the ,united  
,nations ,human ,rights ,council        
7,,unhrc7 in #bjab1 #bjac1 and #bjad    
calling in ever stronger terms for      
domestic action and reconciliation2     
,whereas the ,united ,nation's ,office  
of the ,high ,commissioner for ,human   
,rights issued a report in #bjae 7the   
,,oisl ,report7 which outlined the      
occurrence of war crimes and crimes     
against humanity and violations of      
international humanitarian law during   
the war2 ,whereas following a change in 

government in ,sri ,lanka1 the release  
of the ,,oisl ,report and the           
recommendations of the ,high            
,commissioner for ,human ,rights1 the   
,united ,states cosponsored with ,sri   
,lanka a ,,unhrc resolution in #bjae1   
,,hrc_/#cj_/a1 which was reaffirmed in  
#bjag2 ,whereas in ,,hrc #cj_/a the ,sri
 ,lankan government made transitional   
justice commitments for postwar         
reconciliation including an             
accountability mechanism with a special 
court inclusive of ,commonwealth and    
foreign judges1 prosecutors1 lawyers1   
and investigators1 a truth commission1  
an office of missing persons1 and an    
office of reparations and institutional 
reforms aimed at nonrecurrence1 along   
with a number of confidence-building    
measures2 ,whereas ,sri ,lanka has held 
consultations with victims concerning   
their transitional justice needs1       
acceded to the ,international           
,convention for the ,protection of ,all 
,persons from ,enforced ,disappearance  

and incorporated that treaty into       
domestic law as of #bjah1 established an
 ,office of ,national ,unity and        
,reconciliation1 operationalized the    
,office of ,missing ,persons1 legislated
 an ,office of ,reparations1 discussed a
 ,truth ,commission1 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 war2 ,whereas   
the ,government of ,sri ,lanka must meet
 its commitments to political1 legal1   
and security sector reforms in order to 
assure nonrecurrence of conflict2       
,whereas the ,government of ,sri ,lanka 
has not taken tangible steps toward     
security sector reform1 including       
demilitarization of civilian functions1 
particularly in the ,north and ,east1 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 ,east1 which continues to    
prevent the resettlement of internally  
displaced persons who desire a return to
 peaceful life2 ,whereas the ,sri       
,lankan government security forces are  
reported to continue to act with        
impunity against ethnic and religious   
communities1 using methods of abduction1
 torture1 sexual violence1 and detention
 without trial2 ,whereas no effort has  
been made to bring to justice those who 
have been alleged to have committed war 
crimes and crimes against humanity1 no  
investigations have begun even on       
emblematic cases1 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 government2 ,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 #bjji have been       
published2 ,whereas the ,,un ,high      
,commissioner for ,human ,rights1 ,ms4  
,bachelet1 in her address to the ,human 
,rights ,council on ,march #bj1 #bjai1  
noted1 ,there has been minimal progress 
on accountability1 and insisted that    
,sri ,lanka's efforts in fulfilling all 
commitments made in ,resolution #cj_/a  
must be accelerated and implemented in a
 consistent and comprehensive manner2   
,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 #bjah2 ,whereas  
the constitutional crisis in ,october   
#bjah1 the terror attacks of ,april #ba1
 #bjai1 the upcoming elections1 and     
ongoing ethnic tension should not be    
allowed to prevent the implementation of

 reform measures2 and ,whereas progress 
on domestic and international           
investigations into reports of war      
crimes1 crimes against humanity1 and    
other human rights violations during the
 conflict and promoting reconciliation  
would facilitate ,united ,states        
engagement and investment in ,sri       
,lanka3 ,now1 therefore1 be it  ,that   
the ,house of ,representatives-- 7#a7   
acknowledges the #ajth anniversary of   
the end of the war in ,sri ,lanka and   
offers its deepest condolences to all   
those affected by the war in ,sri       
,lanka2  7#b7 honors the memory of those
 who died and reaffirms its solidarity  
with the ,sri ,lankan people of all     
communities in their search for         
reconciliation1 reconstruction1         
reparation1 and reform2  7#c7 commends  
the ,government of ,sri ,lanka for its  
commitments made to reconciliation and  
nonrecurrence of conflict between its   
diverse ethnic and religious communities
 through its reaffirmation by           

cosponsoring ,,un ,human ,rights        
,council ,resolution ,,hrc_/#dj_/a in   
,march #bjai2  7#d7 urges the           
,government of ,sri ,lanka to follow    
through on its commitments regarding    
transitional justice1 accountability1   
and reconciliation without delay and in 
an integrated manner by creating a      
time-bound action plan in close         
consultation with the ,office of the    
,high ,commissioner for ,human ,rights2 
7#e7 calls on the ,united ,states to    
work with the ,government of ,sri ,lanka
 to prioritize a process of security    
sector reform throughout the country2   
7#f7 acknowledges the importance for    
parties to reach a political settlement 
on the meaningful decentralization of   
power and power sharing2  7#g7          
recommends the use of the ,magnitsky    
,act to prevent individuals credibly    
accused of war crimes and crimes against
 humanity from entering the ,united     
,states or holding property in the      
,united ,states1 and the use of the     

,alien ,tort ,claims ,act to prosecute  
individuals credibly accused of war     
crimes and crimes against humanity2     
7#h7 recommends the thorough vetting of 
individuals and units of the ,sri       
,lankan security forces before          
engagement with the ,united ,states     
military and encourages the ,department 
of ,defense to remain sensitive to the  
complicated ethnic and religious        
tensions that continue to exist in      
postwar ,sri ,lanka2 and  7#i7 urges the
 ,united ,states to work with the       
,united ,nations ,general ,assembly and 
the ,united ,nations ,human ,rights     
,council to establish a credible and    
effective mechanism for accountability  
for the grave crimes committed during   
the war in ,sri ,lanka4