Bird has been documenting human rights abuses perpetrated by militaries and paramilitaries, backed by mining companies, agribusinesses and the US government in Central America for quite some time. Only the end results of these activities are reported in mainstream media as an issue of border control of illegal immigrants. The real background story that these people are fleeing from the chaos created by these agents in their home countries is rarely reported.
The report documents 34 of those violations which on-the-ground reports link directly to the 15th Battalion. These violations include extrajudicial executions, force disappearance, torture, excessive use of force, abuse of authority and threats. There are indications that many other human rights violations have been committed by the soldiers of the 15th Battalion, and have yet to be documented.
The U.S. military has been training soldiers from the 15th Battalion and providing the unit with various forms of material assistance since 2008.
