Step in the Right Direction: Judge Decides KBR Rape Case Should Go to Court

Yesterday, ABC News reported:

"A Houston woman [Jamie Leigh Jones]  who says she was gang raped by co-workers at a Halliburton/KBR camp in Baghdad won a major court battle late Friday when a Texas judge ordered that she can bring her case to court instead of forcing her into secretive arbitration proceedings with Halliburton and KBR.

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

"KBR had 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.

"[District Judge Keith] Ellison, however, wrote in his order Friday that Jones' claims of sexual assault, battery, rape, false imprisonment and others fall beyond the scope of her employment contract." (ABC News)

In December,  ABC News reported that Ms. Jones (now age 22) was allegedly gang raped by coworkers in Iraq.  A rape kit indicates that she was vaginally and anally raped, but the kit has disappeared.

Instead of contacting law enforcement, Jones' employer (KBR, then a subsidiary of Halliburton) reportedly put her under guard in a shipping container (equipped with a bed) and told her that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment. 

A sympathetic guard let her use a phone, and she called her father -- who called Rep. Ted Poe, (R-TX).   Poe called the State Department, who sent agents to rescue Jones from the container.

More than two years later, the Justice Department has not brought criminal charges against the rapists or the people who kept Jones in the container.  Jones decided to file a civil suit against Halliburton/KBR.

One frightening possibility is that Justice Department officials may have helped cover up the rape.

After the rape, Jones also started a non-profit foundation to help U.S. citizens and legal residents who have been victimized by victims of rape and sexual harassment while working overseas for the U.S. government or contractors.

Memeorandum has commentary.

Other BN-Politics Posts:

* Shoddy Work by Contractors Killing U.S. Troops?

* Justice Dept. Let Contractors in Iraq Misbehave?

* Blackwater Took Iraqi Airplanes, CEO Misled Congress?

* Inspector General Blocked Investigations re: Waste and Fraud?