1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov January 3, 2017Human Rights Issues: Security Forces Vetting (“Leahy Laws”)Introduction The U.S. “Leahy Laws” prohibit U.S. security assistance to foreign security forces when there is credible information that a recipient unit has committed a “gross violation of human
2、 rights” (GVHR). The origins of these laws date back to appropriations provisions sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in the late 1990s; they were preceded by a series of provisions beginning in the 1970s that sought to constrain U.S. security assistance to governments with poor human rights r
3、ecords. Todays “Leahy Laws” are permanent law and located in both Title 22 (Foreign Relations) and Title 10 (Armed Forces) of the U.S. Code. They restrict security assistance otherwise funded by the U.S. Departments of State and Defense, but do not apply to foreign military sales and direct commerci
4、al sales. The State Departments Leahy Law The Leahy Law applicable to security assistance authorized by the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961, as amended, or the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), as amended, is codified at 22 U.S.C. 2378d (Section 620M of the FAA). It prohibits “assistance” to a fo