ABSTRACT
The Subcommittee on International Organizations of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs began a series of seminal hearings on the international protection of human rights. International financial institutions (IFIs), the foremost of which is the World Bank, have been remarkably reluctant to consider human rights factors in loan decisions or the human rights implications of their financial operations. In the area of international human rights, as in all areas of law generally, the “mirror image” principle must be kept in mind: namely, that the claims one projects against others inevitably will result in similar claims against oneself. The Eximbank loans money to foreign countries at low interest rates, thus enabling them to buy products made in the United States. Congress has played an important role in promoting and institutionalizing US concern for human rights since 1973 by enacting a series of statutes linking economic and military assistance with the human rights record of recipient countries.
