Sandwich Seminar: U.S. Weapons Exports and Human Rights: How the Safeguard Act Would Address Current Gaps in Transparency, Oversight and Accountability, presented by Ute Ritz-Deutch, lecturer, Philosophy Department, Old Main Colloquium, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
In this talk, I will address how U.S.-made weapons that are transferred and sold around the world, have been used to commit human rights violations, including crimes against humanitarian law and genocide. I will also discuss how the proposed legislation, the Safeguard Act (Safeguarding Human Rights in Arms Exports Act) would address some of the gaps in monitoring and enforcement that currently exist. While the Leahy Laws call on the government to not provide foreign aid and military training to security forces abroad if they are committing grave human rights violations, the laws have been interpreted to not apply to the transfer and sales of U.S. weapons. The Safeguard Act would require the administration to inform Congress of such sales and transfers, to monitor end-use in regard to human rights, and to stop supplying governments and forces with weapons if it was determined that these are being used to commit human rights violations. The Act would also codify the current "Conventional Arms Transfers" policy of the administration.