Human Rights Issues: Security Forces Vetting ("Leahy Laws")

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 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 records. Today's "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 commercial sales.