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This article explores the limitations of US laws governing arms transfers and their impact on human rights enforcement.

July 14, 20260 citationsOpen Access

Selling Arms, Waiving Rights: The Structural Failure of US Human Rights Law in Weapons Transfers

Key Points

This article explores the limitations of US laws governing arms transfers and their impact on human rights enforcement.
Legal analysis of the arms transfer framework including Leahy Laws and Arms Export Control Act.
Historical case studies focusing on Yemen and Gaza to highlight enforcement issues.
Institutional critique of the legal framework's design and implications.
Identified non-enforcement as a deliberate architectural feature of the arms transfer laws.
Demonstrated that existing laws create a façade of human rights compliance.
Proposed a framework aimed at genuine reform to enhance accountability in arms transfers.

Abstract

The United States is the world's largest arms exporter and a professed champion of international human rights. This article identifies a critical analytical gap: the arms transfer legal framework—the Leahy Laws, Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, and the Arms Export Control Act—is architecturally designed to produce the appearance of human rights conditionality while preserving executive discretion to transfer weapons regardless of rights violations. Through legal analysis, historical case studies of Yemen and Gaza, and institutional critique, this article demonstrates that non-enforcement is a structural design feature, not a malfunction, and proposes a framework for genuine reform. Keywords: human rights; United States; Leahy Laws; Arms Export; Foreign Assistance Act

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