War crimes seem to go hand-in-hand with Halliburton.
A woman, now 22 years old, alleges that she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR employees while in Baghdad, and that the company is now trying to cover it up.
Jamie Leigh Jones says that after reporting her rape and having evidence of vaginal and anal rape collected, she was warned against leaving Iraq and held in a shipping container for over 24 hours without food or water. After pleading with a sympathetic armed guard, she was able to get a cell phone and call her father in Texas, who got in touch with their congressman and facilitated her release.
Her rape kit is now missing and ABC found no active investigations into the crime which happened over two years ago. Because contractors in Iraq are not under the reach of United States law, Jones’ only option for justice is the civil court system and she recently filed a lawsuit against Halliburton/KBR, who are now pressing for private arbitration instead of a trial in a public forum.
Jones has created a nonprofit called the Jamie Leigh Foundation, to help women who are victims of rape and sexual assault by overseas government and private contractors and has pledged that any proceeds from her civil case will go to the foundation.
Read the full story here.
One Comment
Wow. There’s so much we take for granted in this country, we just don’t realize it till we hear something like this.