US well-informed sources revealed that Biden Administration intends to tie policies of exporting arms to human rights. They said that the intended policies are alternative to the attitudes of former US President Donald Trump.
Two sources affirmed that two Undersecretary of State will inform staffers in US Congress on the draft of exporting arms tomorrow, Friday. They expected that the new policy of exporting arms may be unveiled soon or next month.
On the other hand, a source in US Administration and an adviser in Congress, who took part in discussions on the new policy, said that the Biden administration told a narrow group of advisers in Congress on that matter before two weeks.
However, the US Department of State seeks to revise policies of exporting arms more strictly in the light of reports submitted by the Human Rights Office under the department.
Defence companies and their lobbyists follow movements of the administration and Congress to know the stance of the administration to balance between the interests of the defense companies like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies and the US commitment to human rights.
On July 30, US legislators rejected a bill of one billion dollars to export arms to Nigeria due to fears of possible violations of human rights, according to sources quoted by “Reuters”, a news agency.
The sources added that an $ 875 million deal of selling twelve attacking helicopters of made AH-1 Cobra and means linked to it, was put off in the Foreign Affairs Committee in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The two committees and a spokesman for the Nigerian President Mohamed Buhari, have declined to comment on this news.
But a spokesman for the US Department of State affirmed that he is going to comment on suggested defensive sales until informing Congress officially.
Last October, US officials complained about using excessive force by the Nigerian army against disarmed civilians.
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