Mercenary Rape Victims.. 38 and climbing..

[SirNitram]

Link

A Houston, Texas woman, who says she was gang-raped by her co-workers at a Halliburton/KBR camp in Baghdad, says 38 women have come forward through her foundation to report their own tragic stories to her, but that many cannot speak publicly due to arbitration agreements in their employment contracts.

Jamie Leigh Jones is testifying on Capitol Hill this afternoon. She says she and other women are being forced to argue their cases of sexual harassment, assault and rape before secretive arbitration panels rather than in open court before a judge and jury.

Jones returned from Iraq following her rape in 2005. She was the subject of an exclusive ABC News report in December which led to congressional hearings.

After months of waiting for criminal charges to be filed, Jones decided to file suit against Halliburton and KBR.

KBR has moved for Jones' claim to be heard in private arbitration, instead of a public courtroom, as provided under the terms of her original employment contract.

Halliburton, which has since divested itself of KBR, says it is improperly named in the suit and referred calls to KBR.

In arbitration, there is no public record or transcript of the proceedings, meaning that Jones' claims would not be heard before a judge and jury. Rather, a private arbitrator hired by the corporation would decide Jones' case.

In fact, Tracy Barker, who says she was sexually harassed and sexually assaulted while working for Halliburton/KBR in Iraq, also recently tried to file suit against the companies. She was forced into arbitration last month.

Jones will tell Congress today that she was not aware that when she signed her employment contract, she was effectively signing away her right to bring a lawsuit.

"When I decided to pursue a civil suit, I was informed that within my 13-page employment contract that had an additional five pages attached, [there was] included an arbitration clause," Jones says in her prepared statement to the committee.

Jones didn't know much about arbitration when she signed the contract and was shocked to learn what she had done.

"I learned that I had signed away my right to a trial by jury," she said.

Congressman Ted Poe, R-Texas, who has been involved in the Jones case since the beginning, will also appear at today's hearing. He disagrees with the arbitration solution.

"Air things out in a public forum of a courtroom," said Rep. Poe in an earlier interview with ABC News. "That's why we have courts in the United States."

More than two years since her attack, no criminal charges have been brought in the matter, and legal experts say that it is highly unlikely that Jones' alleged assailants will ever face a judge and jury.

Jones says that the arbitration clauses are letting her rapists and other criminals off the legal hook.

"The forced arbitration clause in Army contractor's contracts prove to protect the criminals of violent crimes, rather than enforce they be held accountable by a judge and jury," Jones says in her remarks. "My goal is to ensure all American civilians who become victims of violent crimes while abroad have the right to justice before a judge and jury."

KBR said in a statement to ABCNews.com, "Arbitration is the last step of KBR's Dispute Resolution Program. The vast majority of employment disputes at KBR, approximately 96 percent, are resolved through this program without resort to arbitration. KBR remains committed to ensuring the arbitration process is fair to all employees."

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.

"I want other women to know that it's not their fault," said Jones. "They can go against corporations that have treated them this way." Jones said that any proceeds from the civil suit will go to her foundation.

"There needs to be a voice out there that really pushed for change," she said. "I'd like to be that voice."

There was a time on this board where people defended the mercs, asserted they were professionals with high standards and ethical conduct. As with everything else since 2000's election, it has become a crumbling facade, a flimsy over the horrible reality.

[Broomstick]

I'm not sure how forced arbitration for a felony offense is even legal.

Of course, we've known for a long while that the civilian contractors working in Iraq have fewer rights than the military or anyone else.

[Adrian Laguna]

There was a time on this board where people defended the mercs, asserted they were professionals with high standards and ethical conduct. As with everything else since 2000's election, it has become a crumbling facade, a flimsy over the horrible reality.

If you were thinking of me (doubt it, I'm not very memorable) when you said that, I was defending the necessity of mercenaries from a certain standpoint, not their moral integrity. Unless they're forced to behave at gunpoint, they'll act as nothing more than well armed thugs, because that's pretty much what they are.

Anyway, neither Halliburton nor KBR are private military companies. Did you mean something else by "merc"? I think "war profiteers" is a much more suitable label, and it's been clear since day one that the lot are a complete and total disgrace.

[Coyote]

I'm not sure how forced arbitration for a felony offense is even legal.

Of course, we've known for a long while that the civilian contractors working in Iraq have fewer rights than the military or anyone else.

It's probably related to the status of working overseas; ie, crimes committed by US citizens, even on other US citizens, but outside of US legal jurisdiction, are not eligible for the same rights to trial, etc. This is my uneducated guess.

For example, people working overseas (soldiers, KBR, etc) are working on behalf of the US and US companies, drawing US paychecks, but because the money is earned outside the US we don't have to pay US income taxes. There's got to be some sort of 'jurisdiction clause' being magicked into it all somehow.

An actual lawyer would be a better source of theory.

[Edi]

If the US legal system does not recognize crimes committed by US citizens against other US citizens abroad as actionable, then your country is even more of a legal shithole than I've previously thought. It is a general principle of international law that such actions are actionable, so they should be. It derives from the concepts of state, sovereignty and jurisdiction, where a state generally always has jurisdiction over its citizens in the event the local authorities abroad fail to prosecute crimes. In this case, no prosecution by any party while in Iraq and rape is a crime according to American law, so it should be very cut and dried on that basis. Whether or not it is accepted as such in a US court is another matter and we all know the corporation will fight tooth and nail against applying this standard.

Arbitration is generally not possible (or should not be) in cases of felony, but whether it is for civil matters arising out of the criminal proceedings is up in tha air. Over here they would take care of the whole mess in criminal court.

[Broomstick]

Keep in mind that at the moment we are talking about Halliburtin, not the US government. The company could, very well, be breaking the law and using arbitration clauses to attempt to suppress the deed(s).

[Coyote]

Since I admit to knowing 'diddley' and 'squat' when it comes to the legal system, I'll instead go with the more obvious and logical choice: Halliburton is once again dispensing with legalities so as to make things run more efficiently-- because obviously what's good for business is always good for America... ( )

[Edi]

Since I admit to knowing 'diddley' and 'squat' when it comes to the legal system, I'll instead go with the more obvious and logical choice: Halliburton is once again dispensing with legalities so as to make things run more efficiently-- because obviously what's good for business is always good for America... ( )

Probably. To clarify what I said earlier, let's use an example:

A US citizen goes abroad to some other country and robs/assaults/rapes/murders another US citizen. For some reason or another the one who committed the crime was not punished or even prosecuted in the country where the deed was done. So can he just return to the US and walk away scot-free? There is legal precedent by heaps and mounds to the contrary, for example in the case of pedophiles and murderers.

Furthermore, illegal contracts are automatically invalid, no matter what the text says and a contract that says you sign away any right to seek redress in criminal court for crimes committed against you is automatically invalid. It's a direct no-contest slam-dunk.

So Halliburton is just outright lying and breaking the law.

[Broomstick]

So Halliburton is just outright lying and breaking the law.

Yep.

But so long as the current administration is in power I doubt anything will be done. Fortunately, the statute of limitations on rape exceeds the remaining days for Bush & Cheney.

Didn't Halliburton move their headquarters to Dubai a short time back? My Other Half maintains this is to enable the bigwigs to evade prosecution in the US. Somewhat like Wacko Jacko, but for different crimes.

[Darwin]

She's filing a civil suit while waiting for the criminal charges to get sorted out (which, against a big corporation, could take years, at best). Mandatory arbitration is just pure evil, (just look at any of the pile of articles about it on consumerist.com) but it doesn't apply to criminal charges.

Often lately, superior courts are finding binding arbitration contracts to be unconscionable, but not in this case.

[Glocksman]

Furthermore, illegal contracts are automatically invalid, no matter what the text says and a contract that says you sign away any right to seek redress in criminal court for crimes committed against you is automatically invalid. It's a direct no-contest slam-dunk.

IIRC, the victim can seek to have charges pressed against the perpetrator but he/she cannot force a prosecutor to do so.
Conversely, even if the victim says 'don't charge him', a prosecutor is free to ignore that request as well.

In other words, as far as criminal charges are concerned the arbitration clause means diddly and squat.
I suspect the real problem is the lack of an applicable law, since rape is usually handled at the state and county level, and US state laws aren't extraterritorial.

IOW, it's a problem for Congress to solve.


Also a good example of invalid contract language is the racial covenant that's buried in the fine print on a lot of US property deeds.

SCOTUS ruled that such clauses were null and void back in 1948 and cannot be enforced.

[Elfdart]

I'm not sure how forced arbitration for a felony offense is even legal.

The mercenaries are exempt from prosecution by the quisling government in Iraq, which granted immunity to the brigands. It's Republitard SOP: commit crimes and give yourself immunity. She was attempting to sue for civil damages and her contract with KBR calls for arbitration. But I've never heard of employment contract clauses being used to cover up a rape.

[Elfdart]

I suspect the real problem is the lack of an applicable law, since rape is usually handled at the state and county level, and US state laws aren't extraterritorial.

IOW, it's a problem for Congress to solve.

One of the crimes Marc Rich was accused of (before Clinton pardoned him) was paying bribes to government officials somewhere in Africa (Nigeria IIRC). Rich was a fugitive living in Switzerland from 1983-2001 and presumably didn't sneak back onto US soil to pay off a foreign official. So I think an American citizen can be charged for crimes committed abroad, though fat chance of finding evidence in Iraq. Also, foreign nationals can be prosecuted for crimes committed against Americans abroad.

I think the problem is that the mercenaries and the scavengers who employed them were specifically given immunity by Iraq and the Justice Department won't lay a finger on them for obvious reasons.

[RIPP_n_WIPE]

Fucking mercs. Why can't GOOD people be mercs and actually want to HELP people as opposed to raping your fellows.

I mean Christ. At minimum I might have comprehended slightly if the victim had been iraqi simply because of the racist/nationlistic crap going on. But they end up messing around with their own fucking people. Why can't they just be shot?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

These are mercenaries, people. Mercenaries do this. Catholic mercenaries SACKED THE VATICAN in the 16th century, for christssake, because they didn't get paid. If we stopped paying the merc groups in Iraq, who knows what would happen; maybe they'd start mass looting of Iraqi homes and museums or something. Mercenaries are a collection of uncouth, drunken louts who cannot do anything in life except kill people for money. There are certain situations in which mercenaries are necessary anyway, but you better goddamned realize precisely what you're getting when you hire them: A collection of violent rastabouts who will revolt against you if their paychecks are a dollar to small and who rape and pillage everything they look at, including on the territory of their own side, let alone the enemy's.

[Adrian Laguna]

Is everyone using a different definition of "mercenary" than I am? Because neither Halliburton nor KBR are mercenary companies. Let my say this once again, no actual mercs are mentioned in the article. The people in these corporations do not fight for money, and do not provide security for money; they're not even armed. Certainly they are a despicable lot but the term "mercenary" is completely inappropriate and comparisons with medieval or renaissance mercenaries are invalid.

[Coyote]

Laguna, that's because the polite term for "mercenaries" nowadays is *ahem* contractors.

You hear their names mentioned from time to time, such as "Blackwater". They also go by the euphemism "security consultants". They are contracted through Halliburton/KBR to protect Halliburton/KBR people, project sites, and equipment.

Military soldiers cannot do this, because then that would mean US taxpayer-funded troops are used to protect a private company. Private company hires private security.

If there were US Army Engineers out doing the projects, then you could have US soldiers guarding them, etc. Halliburton says they can do these projects cheaper because they hire Third Worlders for for grunt work at shit rates and house them like livestock, and once the projects are done they can just be fired, if not dumped on the spot-- something not easily done with soldiers (they have to wait until they are wounded first, then they get dropped off somewhere and ignored. See?).

[Gil Hamilton]

I kind of have to echo Marina's sentiment if not her rennaisance example. Alot of these people fall into two categories:

1) Recruited from prison
2) Veterans who thought war was so much fun that they decided to do it for a living.

Is anyone surprised that alot of them are scumbags?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

These are mercenaries, people. Mercenaries do this. Catholic mercenaries SACKED THE VATICAN in the 16th century, for christssake, because they didn't get paid.

Are you sure you aren't mixing it up with the sacking by the Protestant mercenaries, or was that later?

[Tiriol]

Even the infamous Machiavelli was adamantly opposed to mercenaries; he had seen first-hand how destructive, unpredictable, greedy and utterly unprincipled they could be in the Italian wars. As such, this should come as no surprise to anyone. Mercenaries aren't nice.

[SirNitram]

An actual lawyer would be a better source of theory.

A bill bringing contractors under the jurisdiction of the US courts was passed in 2007. Of course, good luck getting the DOJ, headed by the 'I Was Just Following Orders' Mukasey to abide by that and do his job.

Halliburton says they can do these projects cheaper because they hire Third Worlders for for grunt work at shit rates and house them like livestock, and once the projects are done they can just be fired, if not dumped on the spot-- something not easily done with soldiers (they have to wait until they are wounded first, then they get dropped off somewhere and ignored. See?).

You're accurate except for 'Hired' and 'Fired'. Try 'Bought' and 'Abandoned'.

Halliburton/KBR on it's subcontractors and slavery... Oh, I'm sorry, we're supposed to say 'Human Trafficking' now, aren't we? Slavery is so 19th century. ChigTrib

At the time, Halliburton said it was not responsible for the recruitment or hiring practices of its subcontractors,

'Not our fault we employ slavers'.

MoreTrib

Miller said the Tribune's series, which documented the deaths of 12 workers who had been trafficked from Nepal to Iraq, raised a specific alarm because it detailed alleged abuses involving contractors and subcontractors "employed directly or indirectly by the U.S. government" at American facilities in Iraq under a multibillion-dollar privatization contract.

Accountability urged

That contract, which has cost taxpayers more than $12 billion, is held by Halliburton subsidiary KBR.

I'm not sure if KBR carries guns or not. I wouldn't believe they don't just because they say they don't, though. I have this thing where I don't trust slavers, you know?

[The Duchess of Zeon]

These are mercenaries, people. Mercenaries do this. Catholic mercenaries SACKED THE VATICAN in the 16th century, for christssake, because they didn't get paid.

Are you sure you aren't mixing it up with the sacking by the Protestant mercenaries, or was that later? :?

There were protestant Germans in the army, yes, but also lots of Spanish Catholics. And it was commanded by a French traitor.

[Elfdart]

It's not just mercenaries, but anyone who is placed in a position where the law either cannot or will not touch them. The Nazi death squads in El Salvador and Guatemala were under the control of the government and were made up in large part of active duty soldiers and police, with a few mercenaries and allied troops sprinkled in.

So when Congress voted to give immunity to torturers, when the Senate voted for immunity for illegal wiretaps, and when "contractors" (scavengers, slavers and mercenaries) are effectively given immuntity; it's not just to let cowardly thugs off the hook.

It's meant to encourage more of the same in the future.

[Imperial Overlord]

Even the infamous Machiavelli was adamantly opposed to mercenaries; he had seen first-hand how destructive, unpredictable, greedy and utterly unprincipled they could be in the Italian wars. As such, this should come as no surprise to anyone. Mercenaries aren't nice.

The Italian word for such mercenaries is condottieri . . . . . which means "contractor." Some things don't change.

[K. A. Pital]

Wasn't there an incident where the contractor used forced, kidnapped labour to build the infamous "US Fortress Embassy" in Baghdad, essentially kidnapping lots of foreigners, stealing their passports, then dumping them into unfinished housing as workmeat and treated as slaves? To the point where those pasportless workers rioted and the armed contractor guards threatened to execute them at gunpoint?

Look here

I mean, what the fuck? You get rapists, murderers, torturers, wanton killers and slavers in Iraq, and the US thinks that's "oh-kay"?