Bill Text: HI HCR218 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that is necessary to ensure a lasting peace.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-12 - Referred to VMI, referral sheet 33 [HCR218 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-HCR218-Introduced.html

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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	218
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that is necessary to ensure a lasting peace.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, May 19, 2014, marks the five-year anniversary of the end of the 26-year civil war between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka; and

 

     WHEREAS, the people of Sri Lanka suffered greatly as a result of this conflict, the impact and aftermath of which has been felt by all, especially by women, children, and families; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Government of Sri Lanka established a "Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission" (LLRC) to report whether any person, group, or institution directly or indirectly bears responsibility for incidents that occurred between February 2002 and May 2009 and to recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents in the future and promote further national unity and reconciliation among all communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, the LLRC report acknowledges important events and grievances that have contributed to decades of political violence and war in Sri Lanka and makes constructive recommendations on a wide range of issues, including the need to credibly investigate widespread allegations of extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; intentional targeting of civilians and noncombatants; demilitarizing the North and the country as a whole; reaching a political settlement with minority communities on the meaningful decentralization of power; and promoting and protecting the right to freedom of expression for all through the enactment of a right to information law and additional rule of law reforms; and

     WHEREAS, the Government of Sri Lanka developed the National Plan of Action to implement the recommendations of the LLRC and has made significant progress within limited time in the implementation of the National Plan of Action, notably in the areas of demining, rehabilitation of ex-combatants, resettlement of displaced persons, improvements of infrastructure and social services in the North and East, as well as investigations into complaints regarding persons who have disappeared during the war; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Government of Sri Lanka expressed its commitment to address the needs of all ethnic groups and has recognized the necessity of a political settlement and reconciliation for a peaceful and just society, which is a long-term process that will need to be driven by the people of Sri Lanka themselves; and

 

     WHEREAS, the September 21, 2013, elections in Sri Lanka for the Northern, Central, and North Western Provincial Councils were an important step in fulfilling this commitment, elections made possible through a sustained effort by the Government of Sri Lanka to restore infrastructure in the North and put in place a system for the conduct of the elections; and

 

     WHEREAS, the elections allowed the people of Northern Sri Lanka to exercise their political rights that had been withheld from them for more than 20 years by the LTTE and resulted in a clear victory for the provincial wing of the Tamil National Alliance; and

 

     WHEREAS, Sri Lanka is enjoying rapid economic growth as an important hub for shipping transport, technology, and tourism in the South Asia region and is of great strategic importance to the United States, due to its location, deep-water ports, and proximity to the world’s busiest shipping lanes, an importance noticed and pursued by other significant world powers; and

 

     WHEREAS, Sri Lanka seeks to be a key United States partner in the fight against terrorism and Indian Ocean piracy; and

 

     WHEREAS, internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation is necessary to ensure a lasting peace within Sri Lanka and is of the utmost importance not only to the people of Sri Lanka, but to the United States, and the world; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that this body expresses its support for the internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that are necessary to ensure a lasting peace; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Hawaii's Congressional delegation, President of Sri Lanka, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the United States, Acting Consul General of Sri Lanka to Hawaii, and Honorary Consul General of Sri Lanka to Hawaii.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Expressing support for internal rebuilding, resettlement, and reconciliation within Sri Lanka that is necessary to ensure a lasting peace.