While the law technically bars the U.S. military from offering training assistance to security forces that have violated human rights, documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that Joint Combined Exchange Trainings (JCET) "have been repeatedly conducted in Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Chad, and many other nations regularly cited for abuses by the Department of State."
The JCETs, which The Intercept explains are "part of a shadowy and growing global engagement strategy involving America's most secretive and least scrutinized troops," are officially intended to offer training for the U.S., but The Intercept says there appears to be an "additional goal — transferring elite military skills from American operators to local forces."
When The Intercept asked the State Department office whether the military command was aware of which units had been "weeded out" in the vetting process for "gross human rights violations," the answer provided was "evasive."
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"If you have any questions about who has been barred, I recommend you contact the State Department," a United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) employee wrote in an email.
Between 2012 and 2014, troops including Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets have carried out 500 JCETs worldwide. In 2012 and 2013 alone, U.S. troops trained alongside nearly 25,000 foreign troops in 77 nations in JCETs.
Read the full article over at The Intercept.