by D. Cupples | Yesterday, a House Judiciary subcommittee held a hearing about U.S. law enforcement in Iraq. The hearing was prompted by reports that Jamie Leigh Jones, a former employee of contractor Halliburton/KBR had been vaginally and anally raped by multiple co-workers, held captive, and warned that she would lose her job if she left Iraq for medical treatment.
Republican Congressman Ted Poe (TX), whom Jones' father contacted while Jones was held captive, stated last week that the Justice Department and State Department have refused to brief him on the rape investigation. The House subcommittee had invited a Justice Department representative to attend the hearing, but Justice refused to send one. ABC News reports:
The Department of Justice refused to send a representative to answer questions from Congress today on the investigations into allegations of rape and sexual assault on female American contractors.
"'I'm embarrassed that the Department of Justice can't even come forward,' said the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, D-Mich.
"'This is an absolute disgrace.... The least we could do is have people from the Department of Justice and the Defense over here talking about how we're going to straighten out the system right away.'" (ABC News)
The Justice Department's refusal letter states that it didn't want a representative to publicly discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. Note that this "investigation" has been "ongoing" for more than two years, without any resulting prosecutions. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers commented:
"Does anyone in this room feel it is acceptable for an American citizen like Ms. Jones to be drugged, raped, and falsely imprisoned? Does anyone think it is appropriate that almost 2 ½ years after the incident, there has not been a single prosecution in the case?
"Does anybody believe it is appropriate that the DOJ victims’ rights ombudsman summarily rejected Ms. Jones complaint 6 months ago, and she was not even seen by a federal prosecutor until October? This is no small matter given that there are some 180,000 civilian contractor employees in Iraq, including more than 21,000 Americans.... And there are other troubling reports of similar sexual assaults against contractor employees....
"I am here to tell you that this committee’s investigation will not end today. Simply put, it is unacceptable for our own Department of Justice to refuse to testify today." (Press release)
The Judiciary Committee has video clips of the hearing.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Did U.S. Officials Cover up Rape Case?
* Right Wing Bloggers Imply that Jones Made Up Rape Story...
* More Evidence of Justice Dept.'s Politically Motivated Decisions
* Have U.S. Officials Protected Blackwater?
* Justice Official Turned Blind Eye to Contractor Fraud?
* Inspector General Blocked Investigations of Waste & Fraud?
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