President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum yesterday requiring reports be filed in 90 days for legal compliance, including support for humanitarian assistance where weapons are used

By Kerul Dyer

Peace organizations and humanitarian advocates celebrated a victory today in an effort to add accountability and legal compliance to US military aid packages dating back to January 2023. The announcement from the White House yesterday outlined the new “National Security Memorandum on Safeguards and Accountability With Respect to Transferred Defense Articles and Defense Services” (NSM) that includes key elements of the Van Hollen Amendment as an integral part of new requirements for countries to receive US military aid.

The historic effort to improve accountability in US-supplied weapons and munitions for war was led by Senator Chris VanHollen of Maryland and supported by 19 Senators, including Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkeley. Peace House, Peace Veterans of the Rogue Valley, Jewish Voice for Peace and Peace Action joined dozens of other local and national organizations that successfully pressed for its adoption.

According to Senator Van Hollen’s Backgrounder, “the NSM requires that the State Department and Defense Department send a report to Congress within 90 days on the use of U.S. weapons in areas of armed conflict since January 2023 and subsequent reports annually thereafter.”

This reporting requirement will include several assessments by the Departments, including “whether weapons have been used in a manner inconsistent with international law, including international humanitarian law.”

In addition, the NSM will require, for the first time, that prior to receiving US Military Aid the recipient countries must provide “credible and reliable written assurances that they will facilitate and not  arbitrarily deny or restrict U.S. and U.S-supported efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in areas of conflict where such countries are using U.S. weapons.”

Importantly, the Memorandum includes an enforcement mechanism that if a country is found in violation of the assurances and legal compliance, there is “a process to hold such country accountable, including potentially suspending any further transfers of defense articles or defense services.”

The full text of the National Security Memorandum is available here and Senator Von Hollen’s backgrounder on his Amendment is here.