History
The law first appeared in the fiscal year 1997 Foreign Operations Appropriations Act, and has been attached to all subsequent acts. Since it is impossible to know in practice the names of the individuals who committed the human rights violations, the U.S. government applies the law by examining the human rights history of a unit. The State Department has interpreted a unit to mean a brigade, which is approximately 3,000 soldiers.
Each U.S. embassy has established a "vetting procedure" to review the backgrounds of military units for which assistance has been proposed. To date, foreign aid to Colombia has been the main focus of the law.
Read more about this topic: Leahy Law
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Every generation rewrites the past. In easy times history is more or less of an ornamental art, but in times of danger we are driven to the written record by a pressing need to find answers to the riddles of today.... In times of change and danger when there is a quicksand of fear under men’s reasoning, a sense of continuity with generations gone before can stretch like a lifeline across the scary present and get us past that idiot delusion of the exceptional Now that blocks good thinking.”
—John Dos Passos (1896–1970)
“At present cats have more purchasing power and influence than the poor of this planet. Accidents of geography and colonial history should no longer determine who gets the fish.”
—Derek Wall (b. 1965)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)