22 U.S.C. § 4028 (FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE)
§ 4028. Training for Foreign Service officers
(a) Human rights, religious freedom, and human trafficking training
(1) In general
The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials, such as the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom appointed under section 6411(b) of this title, the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, and the director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, shall establish as part of the standard training provided after January 1, 1999, for officers of the Service, including chiefs of mission, instruction in the field of internationally recognized human rights. Such training shall include—
(A) instruction on international documents and United States policy in human rights, which shall be mandatory for all members of the Service having reporting responsibilities relating to human rights and for chiefs of mission;
(B) instruction on the internationally recognized right to freedom of religion, the nature, activities, and beliefs of different religions, and the various aspects and manifestations of violations of religious freedom;
(C) instruction on international documents and United States policy on trafficking in persons, including provisions of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (division A of Public Law 106–386; 22 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) which may affect the United States bilateral relationships; and
(D) for Foreign Service Officers who will be assigned to a country experiencing or at risk of mass atrocities, as determined by the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence and relevant civil society organizations, instruction on recognizing patterns of escalation and early warning signs of potential atrocities, and methods of preventing and responding to atrocities, including conflict assessment methods, peacebuilding, mediation for prevention, early action and response, and appropriate transitional justice measures to address atrocities.
(2) Religious freedom training
(A) In general
In carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center shall, not later than the one year after December 16, 2016, conduct training on religious freedom for all Foreign Service officers, including all entry level officers, all officers prior to departure for posting outside the United States, and all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors. Such training shall be included in—
(i) the A–100 course attended by all Foreign Service officers;
(ii) the courses required of every Foreign Service officer prior to a posting outside the United States, with segments tailored to the particular religious demography, religious freedom conditions, and United States strategies for advancing religious freedom, in each receiving country; and
(iii) the courses required of all outgoing deputy chiefs of mission and ambassadors.
(B) Development of curriculum
In carrying out the training required under paragraph (1)(B), the Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, in coordination with the Director of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center and other Federal officials, as appropriate, and in consultation with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom established under section 6431(a) of this title, shall make recommendations to the Secretary of State regarding a curriculum for the training of United States Foreign Service officers under paragraph (1)(B) on the scope and strategic value of international religious freedom, how violations of international religious freedom harm fundamental United States interests, how the advancement of international religious freedom can advance such interests, how United States international religious freedom policy should be carried out in practice by United States diplomats and other Foreign Service officers, and the relevance and relationship of international religious freedom to United States defense, diplomacy, development, and public affairs efforts. The Secretary of State should ensure the availability of sufficient resources to develop and implement such curriculum.
(C) Information sharing
The curriculum and training materials developed under this paragraph shall be shared with the United States Armed Forces and other Federal departments and agencies with personnel who are stationed overseas, as appropriate, to provide training on—
(i) United States religious freedom policies;
(ii) religious traditions;
(iii) religious engagement strategies;
(iv) religious and cultural issues; and
(v) efforts to counter violent religious extremism.
(b) Refugees
The Secretary of State shall provide sessions on refugee law and adjudications and on religious persecution to each individual seeking a commission as a United States consular officer. The Secretary shall also ensure that any member of the Service who is assigned to a position that may be called upon to assess requests for consideration for refugee admissions, including any consular officer, has completed training on refugee law and refugee adjudications in addition to the training required in this section.
(c) Child soldiers
The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other relevant officials, shall establish as part of the standard training provided for chiefs of mission, deputy chiefs of mission, and other officers of the Service who are or will be involved in the assessment of child soldier use or the drafting of the annual Human Rights Report instruction on matters related to child soldiers, and the substance of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008.
(Pub. L. 96–465, title I, § 708, as added and amended Pub. L. 105–292, title I, § 104, title VI, § 602(b), Oct. 27, 1998, 112 Stat. 2795, 2812; Pub. L. 107–132, § 2(b), Jan. 16, 2002, 115 Stat. 2412; Pub. L. 109–164, title I, § 104(d), Jan. 10, 2006, 119 Stat. 3565; Pub. L. 110–457, title IV, § 406, Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5091; Pub. L. 114–281, title I, § 103(a), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1430; Pub. L. 115–441, § 4, Jan. 14, 2019, 132 Stat. 5587.)
heading: References in Text
text: The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, referred to in subsec. (a)(1)(C), is div. A of Pub. L. 106–386, Oct. 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 1466, which is classified principally to chapter 78 (§ 7101 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 7101 of this title and Tables.
The Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008, referred to in subsec. (c), is title IV of Pub. L. 110–457, Dec. 23, 2008, 122 Stat. 5087, which is classified principally to sections 2370c to 2370c–2 of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 2008 Amendment note set out under section 2151 of this title and Tables.
heading: Amendments
text: 2019—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 115–441 added subpar. (D).
2016—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 114–281, § 103(a)(1), inserted subsec. heading, designated existing provisions as par. (1) and inserted par. heading, redesignated former pars. (1) to (3) as subpars. (A) to (C), respectively, and added par. (2).
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 114–281, § 103(a)(2), (3), inserted headings.
2008—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 110–457 added subsec. (c).
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–164 inserted “, the Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking,” after “section 6411(b) of this title” in introductory provisions and added par. (3).
2002—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 107–132 inserted “George P. Shultz” after “director of the” in introductory provisions.
1998—Pub. L. 105–292, § 602(b), designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).
heading: Effective Date of 2008 Amendment
text: Amendment by Pub. L. 110–457 effective 180 days after Dec. 23, 2008, see section 407 of Pub. L. 110–457, set out as an Effective Date note under section 2370c of this title.