Pentagon Allowed to Keep Congress in the Dark over Afghan Human Rights Abuses
Military officials are legally sidestepping rules that would otherwise force them to disclose human rights abuses by US allies in Afghanistan to Congress. The so-called Leahy Law prohibits foreign assistance to known abusers of human rights, with numerous exemptions. According to a watchdog report released on Tuesday, top brass overseeing the War in Afghanistan have been repeatedly citing one of those exemptions “that does not require formal Congressional notification.” The Department of Defense “has interpreted this clause to allow the Secretary to ‘forgo implementation of…