Ban U.S. Weapon Sales To Human Rights Violators: Sen. Menendez

NEW JERSEY — When the United States sells weapons to foreign governments, it has a responsibility to make sure they aren’t used to inflict misery on innocent civilians, a cadre of federal lawmakers say.

On Thursday, Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and several of his Democratic peers in the U.S. Senate introduced the Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act of 2021.

If passed, the bill would prohibit U.S. arms sales to countries committing genocide or war crimes. Read the full text here.

Its supporters include Menendez, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii).

The proposed law is similar to a bill introduced by Menendez, Leahy and Kaine last year.

According to a joint statement from the legislators:

“As foreign governments intentionally or inadvertently use U.S.-sold arms and defense services to perpetrate human rights abuses against innocent civilians, the SAFEGUARD Act would bolster Congress’ role in the review of proposed arms sales and exports to prevent the United States from contributing to or facilitating future human rights abuses. The legislation lays out strategic reforms to the Arms Export Control Act to guarantee that protection and promotion of human rights is a mandatory primary consideration of the export of deadly weapons and defense services to foreign countries.”

Specifically, the bill would:

• “Elevate the protection of human rights in the control and export of arms as an official policy of the United States and place in statute that the export of such arms will not present a significant risk of violating human rights”
• “Prohibit arms sales to countries committing war crimes, genocide, or violations of international humanitarian law (protection of civilians during combat)”
• “Strengthen prohibitions on misuse of U.S. arms sales for human rights abuses; require agreements to that effect on all exports and transfers, including the right of return of any such arms; and prohibit transfer of arms to armed units not subjected to Leahy vetting”
• “Reestablish and strengthen requirement for the State Department to consider a country’s entire human rights record and behavior; ensure that state’s human rights bureau is involved in arms sales decisions; and require an annual report by the Inspector General on implementation of this provision”
• “Increase Congressional oversight over any sale or provision of arms and defense services to any country subjected to a coup or violated specific human rights, including rape, ethnic cleansing, use of child soldiers, wrongful detention, and extrajudicial killings, by requiring all such sales and services to be reviewed by Congress”
• “Apply Leahy vetting to the sale of arms and defense services”
• “Strengthen end-use monitoring of arms sales for human rights abuses”
• “Require certain highly-lethal weapons systems to be sold only through the Foreign Military Sales system, and thereby allowing conditions and requirements to be placed on such sales by the Department of State”

“Safeguarding and prioritizing basic human rights in the sale or transfer of lethal arms must be a fundamental responsibility for any country that truly values these rights, especially the basic right of protecting the life, person and livelihood of the innocent,” Menendez said.

“The United States has for too long devoted inadequate care to this responsibility in its arms sales process,” Menendez continued.

Although the nation should support partners and friendly countries in their legitimate defense needs, it must be able to do so “without the blood of the innocent on our hands,” the senator urged.

“The SAFEGUARD Act is a common-sense reform to make certain no U.S. president rewards human rights abusers or war criminals with America’s deadliest weapons,” Menendez said.

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