Security Assistance: Lapses in Human Rights Screening in North African Countries Indicate Need for Further Oversight
GAO-06-850
Published: Jul 31, 2006. Publicly Released: Jul 31, 2006.
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Highlights
Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia are important U.S. allies in the war on terrorism. The United States provides these countries with security assistance, however, Congress restricts funding when credible evidence exists that foreign security units have committed gross human rights violations. GAO (1) describes the goals of U.S. security assistance to these countries and examines U.S. agencies' assessment of this assistance, (2) assesses U.S. agencies' implementation in Morocco and Tunisia of State's policy to screen foreign security forces to ensure compliance with congressional human rights funding restrictions, and (3) examines agencies' efforts to monitor the use of U.S.-origin defense articles provided through U.S. security assistance programs in the three countries, including Western Sahara, to ensure that they are not misused or diverted. GAO visited U.S. posts in Morocco and Tunisia and analyzed trainee files to determine compliance with human rights vetting policy.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | To provide assurance that foreign candidates of U.S. security assistance programs comply with existing legislative restrictions and State policies on human rights, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, should further strengthen the process of human rights vetting of foreign security forces by establishing a systematic monitoring mechanism that will ensure that State's vetting procedures are carried out at overseas posts. Specifically, the point of contact responsible for human rights vetting at each post should verify that the various offices implementing U.S. training at the post comply with State's vetting policy. |
Department of State has updated its guidance on human rights vetting of foreign military personnel receiving U.S.-training, which is posted on its intranet web site. The guidance defines the role of points of contact at posts to coordinate human rights vetting and the role of State?s regional bureaus and desk officers to verify that vetting has taken place. In addition, a State official stated that the department is developing a worldwide vetting database that will automatically record every training candidate vetting transaction, thereby eliminating the recurring problem of lack of vetting records. The prototype of this database will be tested in October 2008. The department hopes to have the new system in place worldwide by the end of FY 2009. According to State, the new vetting system will make monitoring of the vetting process by regional bureaus and DRL a simple matter of logging on to the new database, which eliminated the need for posts to report results of vetting to main State.
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| Department of State | To provide assurance that foreign candidates of U.S. security assistance programs comply with existing legislative restrictions and State policies on human rights, the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, should further strengthen the process of human rights vetting of foreign security forces by establishing a systematic monitoring mechanism that will ensure that State's vetting procedures are carried out at overseas posts. Specifically, posts should report the results of their monitoring efforts to a designated State headquarters unit to provide State with assurance of posts' compliance with its human rights vetting policy. |
Department of State has updated its guidance on human rights vetting of foreign military personnel receiving U.S.-training, which is posted on its intranet web site. The guidance defines the role of points of contact at posts to coordinate human rights vetting and the role of State's regional bureaus and desk officers to verify that vetting has taken place. In addition, a State official stated that the department is developing a worldwide vetting database that will automatically record every training candidate vetting transaction, thereby eliminating the recurring problem of lack of vetting records. The prototype of this database will be tested in October 2008. The department hopes to have the new system in place worldwide by the end of FY 2009. According to State, the new vetting system will make monitoring of the vetting process by regional bureaus and DRL a simple matter of logging on to the new database, which eliminated the need for posts to report results of vetting to main State.
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CounterterrorismForeign governmentsForeign military assistanceForeign policiesHuman rights violationsInternal controlsInternational relationsMonitoringPolicy evaluationSecurity policiesProgram goals or objectivesProgram implementationSecurity operations