Security assistance programs of the United States of America: An assessment of train and equip operations launched in post-9/11 era in terms of human rights law and US domestic law

Following the end of the Second World War, the United States of America (USA) began to provide military training and equipment support to different states and non-state actors in various regions of the world within the scope of widespread and systematic programs. Assistance programs are primarily planned and implemented to serve the interests of this country, as is clearly emphasized in US government documents and supported by the literature. These activities, however, also violate regulations in the US domestic law stipulating that security assistance should not be provided to states and non-state actors who have committed human rights violations. The main purpose of this research is to examine the security assistance programs carried out in Colombia, Indonesia, Iraq and Syria, in order to detect violations that may have occurred as a result of US security assistance, within the framework of basic security assistance law of the United States known as Leahy Law together with its other relevant regulations, and essential international human rights conventions. The claim of the study is that as the volume of security assistance increased after 9/11, human rights in the countries receiving US assistance had deteriorated.