US Providing Counterinsurgency Training for Southeast Asian Forces
Jim Kouri, CPP
January 27, 2006
The Bush Administration has bolstered assistance to the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand in hopes of contributing to US foreign policy and security goals especially in the war on terrorism. But in order to further human rights goals, Congress restricts certain security assistance funds from being provided to any units of foreign security forces when credible evidence exists that units have committed gross violations of human rights such as "death squads," unlawful and brutal interrogation techniques and other suspected violations.
The United States allocated about $265.7 million in assistance from fiscal years 2001 to 2004 to equip and train security forces in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. US law restricts the provision of funds to units of foreign security forces when the Department of State also has credible evidence that the unit has committed gross violations of human rights.
United States guidance extends these restrictions to individuals of foreign security forces and requires posts to establish procedures to vet candidates for US sponsored training for possible violations. However, the Government Accounting Office recently stated they found no evidence that US officials vetted an estimated 6,900 foreign security trainees -- about 4,000 Indonesian, 1,200 Filipino, and 1,700 Thai police -- trained by the Department of Justice with State Department law enforcement assistance between fiscal years 2001 through 2004.
These candidates included a total of 32 Indonesian individuals trained over time from a notorious special-forces police unit previously prohibited under State Department policy from receiving US training funds because of the unit's prior human rights abuses. The GAO found better evidence of vetting in training programs managed by Department of Defense.
The State Department issued new guidance in February 2005 intended to improve the human rights vetting process and establish a database of human rights abuse allegations. But critics claim that State has not produced a clear and coherent national security assistance strategy that meets objectives that the US Congress urged officials at the State Department to address in 2000 legislation. As a result, State and Congress may be deprived of the information needed to make future decisions about these programs.
The State Department's 2003 strategy met only two of nine objectives in the law. Among other shortfalls, the strategy did not identify how programs would be combined at the country level to achieve objectives or be coordinated with other US government agencies. Several State and Defense Department planning documents, while not collectively providing a complete national security assistance strategy, address some of the legislation's objectives.
Such concerns over vetting may have arisen due to the belief that Mexican drug enforcement personnel trained in the United States may now be working for the Mexican drug gangs. The so-called "Zetas" are former soldiers and police officers who deserted and now pose a danger to Mexican and US police. The US government may wish to avoid the same situation in Southeast Asia.
Sources: US Department of Justice, US Department of State, Government Accounting Office, US Department of Defense
The United States allocated about $265.7 million in assistance from fiscal years 2001 to 2004 to equip and train security forces in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. US law restricts the provision of funds to units of foreign security forces when the Department of State also has credible evidence that the unit has committed gross violations of human rights.
United States guidance extends these restrictions to individuals of foreign security forces and requires posts to establish procedures to vet candidates for US sponsored training for possible violations. However, the Government Accounting Office recently stated they found no evidence that US officials vetted an estimated 6,900 foreign security trainees -- about 4,000 Indonesian, 1,200 Filipino, and 1,700 Thai police -- trained by the Department of Justice with State Department law enforcement assistance between fiscal years 2001 through 2004.
These candidates included a total of 32 Indonesian individuals trained over time from a notorious special-forces police unit previously prohibited under State Department policy from receiving US training funds because of the unit's prior human rights abuses. The GAO found better evidence of vetting in training programs managed by Department of Defense.
The State Department issued new guidance in February 2005 intended to improve the human rights vetting process and establish a database of human rights abuse allegations. But critics claim that State has not produced a clear and coherent national security assistance strategy that meets objectives that the US Congress urged officials at the State Department to address in 2000 legislation. As a result, State and Congress may be deprived of the information needed to make future decisions about these programs.
The State Department's 2003 strategy met only two of nine objectives in the law. Among other shortfalls, the strategy did not identify how programs would be combined at the country level to achieve objectives or be coordinated with other US government agencies. Several State and Defense Department planning documents, while not collectively providing a complete national security assistance strategy, address some of the legislation's objectives.
Such concerns over vetting may have arisen due to the belief that Mexican drug enforcement personnel trained in the United States may now be working for the Mexican drug gangs. The so-called "Zetas" are former soldiers and police officers who deserted and now pose a danger to Mexican and US police. The US government may wish to avoid the same situation in Southeast Asia.
Sources: US Department of Justice, US Department of State, Government Accounting Office, US Department of Defense
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