U.S. CODE

U.S. Code

§ 4028. Training for Foreign Service officers

(a) 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—

(1) 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;

(2) 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; and

(3) 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.

(b) 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) 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.

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