Monitoring Military Aid in Latin America

U.S. Security Assistance and Human Rights in the Americas Today: This Much at Least Must Be Done

Statement by Lisa Haugaard, Executive Director, Latin America Working Group Education Fund at the Just the Facts Conference:
Security, Civil-Military Relations, and U.S. Policy in the Americas Today

September 28, 2012

How do you ensure that U.S. security assistance supports and does not undercut human rights? 

As a human rights advocate, my best answer is quite simple:
The United States should not provide training and assistance to highly abusive military or police forces.

However, the U.S. government often does give assistance and training to abusive security forces. 

In those cases, at an absolute minimum, there must be enforceable human rights conditions over all military and police assistance, through all sources, including through the Defense as well as State budget, and the State Department and the Congress must be willing to enforce them.