Cover-up
Today’s post provides additional information regarding the post of 12/17/07, which divulged the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones, a 20 years old, while working in Iraq for Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton.
Our government has assisted Halliburon and it’s then-subsidiary KBR in covering up the incident. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Jones insists that she was held in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water by KBR, which posted armed security guards outside her door, which prevented her from leaving. She convinced a sympathetic guard to loan her a cell phone so she could call her father in Texas.
She told her father that she had been raped and was being held against her will in the container. Her father called Texas Republican Congressman, Ted Poe. His office contacted the State Department, which quickly dispatched agents from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Jones’ camp, where they rescued her from the container.
Her examination by Army doctors showed that she had been raped both vaginally and anally, but that the rape kit disappeared after it was handed over to KBR security officers. A spokesperson for the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security had no comment and over two years later, the Justice Department has brought no criminal charges in the matter. Legal experts say Jones’ alleged assailants will likely never face a judge and jury, due to an enormous loophole that has effectively left contractors in Iraq beyond the reach of United States law.
Since no criminal charges have been filed, the only other option, is the civil system, which Jones is trying now. However, Jones’ former employer doesn’t want this case to see the inside of a civil courtroom. KBR has moved for Jones’ claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it. In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones’ claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Instead, a private arbitrator would decide Jones’ case.
In her lawsuit, Jones’ lawyer, Todd Kelly, says “KBR and Halliburton created a boys will be boys atmosphere at the company barracks which put her and other female employees at great risk. I think men who are there believe that they live without laws, and the last thing she should have expected was for her own people to turn on her.” KBR says, it was instructed to cease its investigation by government authorities, because they were assuming sole responsibility for the criminal investigations.
Since the attacks, Jones has started a nonprofit foundation called the Jamie Leigh Foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims who were raped or sexually assaulted overseas while working for government contractors or other corporations. Any proceeds from the civil suit will go to her foundation. Jones states: “I want other women to know that it's not their fault. They can go against corporations that have treated them this way. There needs to be a voice out there that really pushed for change and I’d like to be that voice.”
Our government has assisted Halliburon and it’s then-subsidiary KBR in covering up the incident. In a lawsuit filed in federal court, Jones insists that she was held in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food or water by KBR, which posted armed security guards outside her door, which prevented her from leaving. She convinced a sympathetic guard to loan her a cell phone so she could call her father in Texas.
She told her father that she had been raped and was being held against her will in the container. Her father called Texas Republican Congressman, Ted Poe. His office contacted the State Department, which quickly dispatched agents from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to Jones’ camp, where they rescued her from the container.
Her examination by Army doctors showed that she had been raped both vaginally and anally, but that the rape kit disappeared after it was handed over to KBR security officers. A spokesperson for the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security had no comment and over two years later, the Justice Department has brought no criminal charges in the matter. Legal experts say Jones’ alleged assailants will likely never face a judge and jury, due to an enormous loophole that has effectively left contractors in Iraq beyond the reach of United States law.
Since no criminal charges have been filed, the only other option, is the civil system, which Jones is trying now. However, Jones’ former employer doesn’t want this case to see the inside of a civil courtroom. KBR has moved for Jones’ claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom. It says her employment contract requires it. In arbitration, there is no public record nor transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones’ claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Instead, a private arbitrator would decide Jones’ case.
In her lawsuit, Jones’ lawyer, Todd Kelly, says “KBR and Halliburton created a boys will be boys atmosphere at the company barracks which put her and other female employees at great risk. I think men who are there believe that they live without laws, and the last thing she should have expected was for her own people to turn on her.” KBR says, it was instructed to cease its investigation by government authorities, because they were assuming sole responsibility for the criminal investigations.
Since the attacks, Jones has started a nonprofit foundation called the Jamie Leigh Foundation, which is dedicated to helping victims who were raped or sexually assaulted overseas while working for government contractors or other corporations. Any proceeds from the civil suit will go to her foundation. Jones states: “I want other women to know that it's not their fault. They can go against corporations that have treated them this way. There needs to be a voice out there that really pushed for change and I’d like to be that voice.”
posted by Jim O'Leary | 6:18 AM
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