Van Hollen Statement on GAO Report Detailing State Dept. Failure to Address Credible Reports of Civilian Harm by U.S. Weapons

Today, U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) released the following statement regarding a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finding that the U.S. State Department is failing to address credible reports that U.S. weapons are being used to harm civilians:

“This independent report confirms my deep concern that the Department of State has not established adequate systems or procedures to hold the Netanyahu government accountable for using American weapons in compliance with U.S. laws and values. It is unacceptable that State has not completed a single investigation into the hundreds of reported cases of civilian harm using U.S. weapons, despite State’s own finding of numerous credible reports, not to mention the thousands of incidents that the Department has not even examined. If you don’t have a mechanism to uphold American laws and policies governing the use of U.S. weapons and security assistance, then these laws and policies become meaningless. Of course, violations won’t be found without looking – but failure to look makes the U.S. complicit in those violations.”