22 U.S.C. § 2151n : US Code - Section 2151N: Human rights and development assistance

Search 22 U.S.C. § 2151n : US Code - Section 2151N: Human rights and development assistance

(a) Violations barring assistance; assistance for needy people
No assistance may be provided under subchapter I of this chapter
to the government of any country which engages in a consistent
pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human
rights, including torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment
or punishment, prolonged detention without charges, causing the
disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention
of those persons, or other flagrant denial of the right to life,
liberty, and the security of person, unless such assistance will
directly benefit the needy people in such country.
(b) (!1) Information to Congressional committees for realization of
assistance for needy people; concurrent resolution terminating
assistance
In determining whether this standard is being met with regard to
funds allocated under subchapter I of this chapter, the Committee
on Foreign Relations of the Senate or the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives may require the
Administrator primarily responsible for administering subchapter I
of this chapter to submit in writing information demonstrating that
such assistance will directly benefit the needy people in such
country, together with a detailed explanation of the assistance to
be provided (including the dollar amounts of such assistance) and
an explanation of how such assistance will directly benefit the
needy people in such country. If either committee or either House
of Congress disagrees with the Administrator's justification it may
initiate action to terminate assistance to any country by a
concurrent resolution under section 2367 of this title.
(b) (!1) Protection of children from exploitation
No assistance may be provided to any government failing to take
appropriate and adequate measures, within their means, to protect
children from exploitation, abuse or forced conscription into
military or paramilitary services.
(c) Factors considered
In determining whether or not a government falls within the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section and in formulating
development assistance programs under subchapter I of this chapter,
the Administrator shall consider, in consultation with the
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
and in consultation with the Ambassador at Large for International
Religious Freedom -
(1) the extent of cooperation of such government in permitting
an unimpeded investigation of alleged violations of
internationally recognized human rights by appropriate
international organizations, including the International
Committee of the Red Cross, or groups or persons acting under the
authority of the United Nations or of the Organization of
American States;
(2) specific actions which have been taken by the President or
the Congress relating to multilateral or security assistance to a
less developed country because of the human rights practices or
policies of such country; and
(3) whether the government -
(A) has engaged in or tolerated particularly severe
violations of religious freedom, as defined in section 6402 of
this title; or
(B) has failed to undertake serious and sustained efforts to
combat particularly severe violations of religious freedom (as
defined in section 6402 of this title), when such efforts could
have been reasonably undertaken.
(d) Report to Speaker of House and Committee on Foreign Relations
of the Senate
The Secretary of State shall transmit to the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate, by February 25 of each year, a full and complete report
regarding -
(1) the status of internationally recognized human rights,
within the meaning of subsection (a) of this section -
(A) in countries that receive assistance under subchapter I
of this chapter, and
(B) in all other foreign countries which are members of the
United Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a
human rights report under this chapter;
(2) wherever applicable, practices regarding coercion in
population control, including coerced abortion and involuntary
sterilization;
(3) the status of child labor practices in each country,
including -
(A) whether such country has adopted policies to protect
children from exploitation in the workplace, including a
prohibition of forced and bonded labor and policies regarding
acceptable working conditions; and
(B) the extent to which each country enforces such policies,
including the adequacy of the resources and oversight dedicated
to such policies;
(4) the votes of each member of the United Nations Commission
on Human Rights on all country-specific and thematic resolutions
voted on at the Commission's annual session during the period
covered during the preceding year;
(5) the extent to which each country has extended protection to
refugees, including the provision of first asylum and
resettlement;
(6) the steps the Administrator has taken to alter United
States programs under subchapter I of this chapter in any country
because of human rights considerations;
(7) wherever applicable, violations of religious freedom,
including particularly severe violations of religious freedom (as
defined in section 6402 of this title);
(8) wherever applicable, a description of the nature and extent
of acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic incitement that occur
during the preceding year, including descriptions of -
(A) acts of physical violence against, or harassment of (!2)
Jewish people, and acts of violence against, or vandalism of
(!2) Jewish community institutions, including schools,
synagogues, and cemeteries;
(B) instances of propaganda in government and nongovernment
media that attempt to justify or promote racial hatred or
incite acts of violence against Jewish people;
(C) the actions, if any, taken by the government of the
country to respond to such violence and attacks or to eliminate
such propaganda or incitement;
(D) the actions taken by such government to enact and enforce
laws relating to the protection of the right to religious
freedom of Jewish people; and
(E) the efforts of such government to promote anti-bias and
tolerance education;
(9) wherever applicable, consolidated information regarding the
commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and evidence
of acts that may constitute genocide (as defined in article 2 of
the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide and modified by the United States instrument of
ratification to that convention and section 2(a) of the Genocide
Convention Implementation Act of 1987);
(10) for each country with respect to which the report
indicates that extrajudicial killings, torture, or other serious
violations of human rights have occurred in the country, the
extent to which the United States has taken or will take action
to encourage an end to such practices in the country; and
(11)(A) wherever applicable, a description of the nature and
extent -
(i) of the compulsory recruitment and conscription of
individuals under the age of 18 by armed forces of the
government of the country, government-supported paramilitaries,
or other armed groups, and the participation of such
individuals in such groups; and
(ii) that such individuals take a direct part in hostilities;
(B) what steps, if any, taken by the government of the country
to eliminate such practices; and
(C) such other information related to the use by such
government of individuals under the age of 18 as soldiers, as
determined to be appropriate by the Secretary.
(e) Promotion of civil and political rights
The President is authorized and encouraged to use not less than
$3,000,000 of the funds made available under this part, part X of
this subchapter, and part IV of subchapter II of this chapter for
each fiscal year for studies to identify, and for openly carrying
out programs and activities which will encourage or promote
increased adherence to civil and political rights, including the
right to free religious belief and practice, as set forth in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in countries eligible for
assistance under this part or under part X of this subchapter,
except that funds made available under part X of this subchapter
may only be used under this subsection with respect to countries in
sub-Saharan Africa. None of these funds may be used, directly or
indirectly, to influence the outcome of any election in any
country.
(f) Annual country reports on human rights practices
(1) The report required by subsection (d) of this section shall
include the following:
(A) A description of the nature and extent of severe forms of
trafficking in persons, as defined in section 7102 of this title,
in each foreign country.
(B) With respect to each country that is a country of origin,
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of
trafficking in persons, an assessment of the efforts by the
government of that country to combat such trafficking. The
assessment shall address the following:
(i) Whether government authorities in that country
participate in, facilitate, or condone such trafficking.
(ii) Which government authorities in that country are
involved in activities to combat such trafficking.
(iii) What steps the government of that country has taken to
prohibit government officials from participating in,
facilitating, or condoning such trafficking, including the
investigation, prosecution, and conviction of such officials.
(iv) What steps the government of that country has taken to
prohibit other individuals from participating in such
trafficking, including the investigation, prosecution, and
conviction of individuals involved in severe forms of
trafficking in persons, the criminal and civil penalties for
such trafficking, and the efficacy of those penalties in
eliminating or reducing such trafficking.
(v) What steps the government of that country has taken to
assist victims of such trafficking, including efforts to
prevent victims from being further victimized by traffickers,
government officials, or others, grants of relief from
deportation, and provision of humanitarian relief, including
provision of mental and physical health care and shelter.
(vi) Whether the government of that country is cooperating
with governments of other countries to extradite traffickers
when requested, or, to the extent that such cooperation would
be inconsistent with the laws of such country or with
extradition treaties to which such country is a party, whether
the government of that country is taking all appropriate
measures to modify or replace such laws and treaties so as to
permit such cooperation.
(vii) Whether the government of that country is assisting in
international investigations of transnational trafficking
networks and in other cooperative efforts to combat severe
forms of trafficking in persons.
(viii) Whether the government of that country refrains from
prosecuting victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons
due to such victims having been trafficked, and refrains from
other discriminatory treatment of such victims.
(ix) Whether the government of that country recognizes the
rights of victims of severe forms of trafficking in persons and
ensures their access to justice.
(C) Such other information relating to trafficking in persons
as the Secretary of State considers appropriate.
(2) In compiling data and making assessments for the purposes of
paragraph (1), United States diplomatic mission personnel shall
consult with human rights organizations and other appropriate
nongovernmental organizations.