Action Alert Archive

Support HR 2764 and stop military funding to Sri Lanka

September 17, 2007

We are writing to call your attention to Section 690 of The Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Act 2008 [HR2764.RS], which ties US military assistance to improvement in the human rights record of Sri Lanka. We strongly encourage you to express your support for this crucial language in the final bill.

The Sri Lanka section of HR 2764.RS, with amendments added and passed unanimously by the Senate on 9/6/2007, reads as follows:

SRI LANKA
SEC. 690. None of the funds appropriated by this Act under the heading `Foreign Military Financing Program' may be made available for assistance for Sri Lanka, no defense export license may be issued, and no military equipment or technology shall be sold or transferred to Sri Lanka pursuant to the authorities contained in this Act or any other Act, unless the Secretary of State certifies and reports to the Committees on Appropriations that (1) the Sri Lankan military is suspending and the Sri Lankan Government is bringing to justice members of the military who have been credibly alleged to have committed gross violations of human rights, including extrajudicial executions and the recruitment of child soldiers (2) the Sri Lankan Government has provided unimpeded access to humanitarian organizations and journalists to Tamil areas of the country; and (3) the Sri Lankan Government has agreed to the establishment of a field presence of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sri Lanka.

Last month, Human Rights Watch published a scathing 129-page report entitled "Human Rights Under Siege," detailing how government security forces have subjected civilians to "disappearances," indiscriminate attacks, forced displacement and restrictions on humanitarian aid. Critics of the government have been threatened and demonized as attacks and assassinations of media and aid workers continue.

The dire situation recounted in the HRW report, and in countless other reports, demands the U.S. Congress' urgent attention. The United States has an obligation to ensure that it does not financially support the human rights violations being perpetrated against the Tamil population in Sri Lanka. The amended language, as presented by Senator Leahy, would help prevent this from taking place. Please support the inclusion of this language in the final version of HR 2764.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding this urgent issue.