; Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka continues to participate in and facilitate the illegal appropriation of land in the North and East, areas of historical habitation of Tamil speaking peoples and various ethnic and religious groups; Whereas the Government of Sri Lanka refuses to conduct transparent and independent investigations into credible allegations of corruption, historic atrocities, and other gross violations of human rights against Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim communities, and the United Nations and others have recognized that longstanding impunity for corruption and other human rights violations and abuses is a root cause of the current crisis and that many actors responsible for the current crisis have been implicated in abuses dating back to the civil war and the JVP insurrection; Whereas for more than 30 years, Sri Lanka was enveloped in a civil war in which, according to United Nations reports, tens of thousands of Sri Lankans died and thousands more were raped, tortured, forcibly disappeared, or went missing; Whereas United Nations reports maintain that members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and members of the Government and security services of Sri Lanka were implicated in horrific atrocities and human rights violations and abuses against Sri Lankan civilians during the civil war; Whereas on multiple occasions, the Government of Sri Lanka has publicly committed to pursuing meaningful justice and accountability for conflict-related crimes and grievances, including in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s May 2009 joint statement with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and in the government of then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s cosponsoring of United Nations Human Rights Council resolution 30/1, committing to a holistic transitional justice strategy, including a commission for truth, justice, reconciliation, and non-recurrence and a judicial mechanism to prosecute violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law