(This story seems to be back in the news and we haven’t heard much about it in the States, so I am resurrecting the original story for you. )
Iraqis allege sex abuse at the British Embassy
The Times
May 8, 2008
Deborah Haynes in Baghdad and Sonia Verma in Dubai
An Iraqi cleaner and two cooks claim that a culture of sexual harassment, abuse and bullying exists at the British Embassy in Baghdad.
The middle-aged cleaner told The Times that a British contractor with KBR, the company hired to maintain the embassy’s premises, offered to double her daily pay if she would stay the night with him. When she refused, she said, her pay was cut and she was later dismissed.
The Iraqis accuse the embassy of leaving the abuse unchallenged and failing adequately to respond to complaints against several British managers for KBR. The company was allowed to conduct its own inquiry, an arrangement criticised as a very serious conflict of interest.
The complainants – the cleaner and two male cooks who worked in the embassy canteen – say that some KBR managers groped Iraqi staff regularly, paid or otherwise rewarded them for sex and dismissed those who refused or spoke out.
The British Embassy heard the complaints initially but left KBR to investigate; a KBR report found that there was no case to answer.
The three Iraqis lost their jobs at the embassy, in the Green Zone. They spoke to The Times in the hope that the Foreign Office would conduct an independent inquiry.
The allegations, outlined in testimonies taken by embassy officials last June and obtained by this newspaper, describe a culture of sexual harassment. The cleaner said that on one occasion her manager “threw many $100 notes on the desk and said, ‘take whatever you want and stay overnight and I will pay you double [your daily pay]’. ”
KBR – a global engineering and services company that has a similar contract to provide catering and cleaning services to the US Embassy in Baghdad – denies the claims. In an e-mail to The Times sent from its Houston headquarters, it said that there was no evidence to support the allegations.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We’ve discussed [the investigation] with KBR in detail and are satisfied.”
The Iraqi claimants say that they were never interviewed by KBR investigators. They told The Times that their KBR managers accused them of “poor work” and “lying”. The managers, who denied the charges, were reinstated after month-long suspensions with pay. There are no claims of wrongdoing against staff directly employed by the embassy.
Samer Muscati, a former employee of Adam Smith International (ASI), a consultancy hired by the Department for International Development and based in the embassy, said that the cleaner approached him.
She first went to embassy officials after she was sacked last May. She had worked at the compound for two years and said that she had been forced out for refusing to spend the night with her KBR manager.
Two men, Nasser and Hassan, who worked for KBR in the embassy canteen, supported her allegations. Asked by The Times why no one else came forward, Nasser said: “There is no work outside so everyone is worried about their jobs.” They said they felt compelled to speak out because the cleaner was an honourable woman.
On June 5 and 6, 2007, the three Iraqis were interviewed by embassy officials, including Matthew Lodge, then Britain’s Deputy Head of Mission in Iraq. According to a record of that meeting seen by The Times, Mr Lodge said that the testimonies would be treated in “complete confidence”, encouraging the witnesses to speak openly. He also indicated that the embassy was responsible for “ensuring that the behaviour of all staff on embassy premises was acceptable”.
A few days later KBR’s local manager called the two men into his office. Hassan and Nasser were sent home on paid leave and later sacked.
The testimonies collected by Mr Lodge were given to Dominic Asquith, then the Ambassador, and forwarded to the Foreign Office in London. Mr Lodge and Mr Asquith did not reply to requests for comment. Steve Bird, a Foreign Office spokesman in London, said the investigation was handed over to KBR because the allegations involved “KBR staff against KBR staff”.
Mr Bird described KBR’s investigation as “thorough and professional”.
He said that it was his understanding that the Iraqi claimants had testified to KBR. However, the three told The Times that they were never contacted by the company. Their claims are backed up by staff at the ASI consultancy, which examined KBR’s findings.
A memo, sent by a senior ASI consultant to Mr Lodge and seen by The Times, criticised KBR’s investigation, saying that as well as failing to interview the Iraqis the company had also omitted to talk to other senior embassy officials who had interviewed the cleaner when she first made her claim.
KBR’s report stated that “we have found no evidence to support the claims of serious sexual harassment”, according to ASI.
KBR would not respond to questions about its investigation or its conclusions. Employees of KBR have been implicated previously in alleged sexual assaults on their American female colleagues in Iraq.
Mr Muscati’s ASI team lobbied the Foreign Office to reopen the investigation, to no avail. He said: “It’s not just shocking that KBR was given the authority to investigate itself, but that the embassy accepted its findings at face value. We’ve tried to seek redress, but they’ve stonewalled us.”
The Times tracked down the cleaner to her tiny flat. She reiterated the allegations she says she made to embassy officials last June. “I suffered this aggression under the British flag,” she said. “I felt like I had been destroyed.”
The Iraqis claimed that KBR managers bribed other workers to ensure that investigators heard a one-sided version of events. “Why didn’t they call us to tes-tify?” Nasser asked. “I would have asked to be given a lie-detector test to see whether I am telling the truth.”
After the cleaner’s dismissal, but before KBR investigators arrived in Baghdad, Mr Lodge wrote a letter of recommendation on her behalf. Mr Lodge wrote that she was “recognised as hard-working and industrious – the local KBR manager described her to me as a ‘good worker’.” (click HERE for the original article)
Abuse at British embassy investigation “fundamentally flawed”
RINF News
Friday, June 12th, 2009
An investigation into abuse by private staff at the British embassy in Baghdad was “fundamentally flawed”, according to Human Rights Watch.
The London director of the group, Tom Porteous, told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee that there needed to be a “proper investigation” into the allegations, and that if found guilty those responsible should face sanction.
The initial investigation was conducted by the company, Kellogg Brown and Root, itself, rather than by the UK government.
But Porteous said the Foreign Office has responsibility for the behaviour of its contractors, and should conduct its own inquiry.
He said the investigation also had procedural shortcomings, such as the failure to interview key personnel.
He also accused KBR of allowing those under investigation free access to the complainants.
Porteous added that whilst no disciplinary measures were taken against KBR staff, those that complained were dismissed.
He said that there had since been further allegations of sexual harassment made against the same individuals, “no doubt a consequence of the impunity that stemmed from this investigation”.
“Those staff who have been the victim of this abuse and those who have been dismissed need to be compensated,” he said.
Kate Allen, the director of Amnesty International UK also slammed the government for its attitude towards private military contractors.
Allen said proposals to allow companies to sign codes of conduct voluntarily was “absolutely insufficient”, as well as being “extraordinarily weak”.
“When you understand how much of what is happening in parts of the world has been contracted out, it is untenable that they not be accountable,” she said. (Click HERE for the original article)
This just sounds so typical of KBR management and their BOGUS investigations. Let me give my opinion of how it typically works.
1. Employee reports harassment or wrongdoing by KBR manager/employee to HR or higher level manager.
2. Employee is ostracized, harassed more, threatened by management and co-workers.
3. Bogus investigation MIGHT begin.
4. Bogus investigation ends. No fault of manager. Offending employee might receive reprimand depending on what dirt they have on management.
5. Reporting employee terminated or transferred to an undesirable job in order to encourage them to quit.
6. Offending manager promoted. Offending employee MIGHT be fire but then rehired later if not promoted. Most often they are just transferred to another site.
The victimization of Iraqi, Filipino and other Sub Contract Workers SCW/TCN’s females and males is very prevalent. Oh my God I could tell you some sad disturbing stories. Maybe in the comments.
Tell me your stories.
Ms Sparky
Here’s another article published in Feb ’09 about this. Evidently it’s a hot issue in Britain.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/coverup-in-iraq-shooting-the-messenger-1604040.html
This doesn’t shock me at all. In 2007, an investigator came up from HQ Houston and fired 15 contractors for trafficking in persons. They were paying the iraqi female ladies that worked in the laundries on the KBR camp (they were the employee’s self laundry. I don’t know how it got squeeled, but the ladies ended up getting fired too. I know this happened because I know some of the men who got fired and it was public knowlege they were getting sex during the day from the workers. I mean a 2 hour lunch… c’mon.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
That was a problem everywhere. I felt bad for these Iraqi women. They were desperate. And the guys took advantage of that.
Two hours!! They must have been getting lunch and a long nap too!!
Here’s another KBR in the Green Zone story.
I believe it was late 2004. At the Republican Palace in the Green Zone. At that time is was the temporary US Embassy and had offices for Ambassador Negroponte, and Generals Casey and Petraeus. We had a small night shift of maintenance workers and cleaners. It consisted of Expats and Iraqis. This one night shift electrician got caught, I believe by a soldier, in the Palace Theater with a young Iraqi guy. You never really knew how old some of the Iraqis were. They said they were 18 but I had my doubts on some of them.
This electrician had been regularly paying these Iraqi men for oral sex and whatever else. Who knows.
The electrician was sent home. But I’m sure the only reason he was fired was because a soldier caught him. If someone in KBR would have caught him, I suspect he would have been transferred back to days or transferred to another camp. That was pretty much par for the course.
I don’t believe any charges were ever brought against him.
You know, I heard about that guy working the green zone! I know back at Caldwell in 2004, there was this creepy labor/laundry guy that just seemed so friendly to his “boys” “sons”. We suspected he was tapping the iraqi boys booties. He never seemed wired on some kind of drug. You could tell when one of the expats were doing something nasty when some of the Iraqi laborers just had some kind of “control” over some of the expats that were paying them for something. We just figured they we’re banging them or getting a drug supply from them. You could always tell about the Iraqis that were in “control” because they felt they could never get fired or they would act up. Have you seen that before? I know I did. Caldwell was so out there, we were close to JBB, but we had to go all the way to C1 to get out.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Trust me he wasn’t the only creepy guy! I think KBR attracted that type. One they heard they had access to Iraqi boys and girls and the TCN’s and then let’s not forget about the virtually free Thailand every 4 months. Kids for sale on every corner not to mention the prolific forced prostitution.
Another problem from what I could see was that for ever one female who complained about sexual haressment for job advancement there were twenty others sitting at some cushy office job loving it.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
What? Are you smokin’ crack! You must be one of those freakin’ KBR assholes that thinks just because the woman in question didn’t just grab you by the balls and feed them to you, that she liked and appreciated your sexual harassment. What a ignorant bastard.
Do you know how many times the average woman in Iraq has to say “No thanks, not interested.” in just one day. At least 20-30. So if you are hitting on her and she is sitting there smiling back at you acting like she’s just eatin’ it up. News flash honey….she’s fakin’ it!
Dude…as a man you should know there are some statements you just don’t make. I had a girlfriend over there. Even though everyone knew she had a boyfriend it didn’t keep them from hitting on her constantly. Just the trip from the DFAC to the CHU was exhausting her. And if she told them to step off, then she was a bitch. It’s a no win for most of them.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I hated eating in the DFAC. I’ll bet more than half the time I just got it to go.
1-6 you hit it! David, you’re retarded. You probably were REJECTED AND HUMILIATED PUBLICLY FOR HARRASSING A FEMALE YOU JACK*SS. I know from transferring site to site, being the new female it would only take me getting on the plane or off the plane to get the stares and then the proverbial, hey let me help you with your bags. So are you single? Hehehe… oh you live right here? You work where? Can I holla at you some time? OH your man won’t know if he’s on another camp… blah blah blah.
David you have the brain of a sea slug. So suck on the shyt that falls on the floor. Ugh, you make me SICK!
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Did David piss you off? Me too. Not really anything I can add to that.
david ex KBR-i am going to have to assume you didnt think that through to well. as a long time ms sparky reader i would expect nothing less than a blood letting from her on this issue. and i am going to have to agree with her. i was over there for three years. if a woman was chosen by a manager and she refused she could kiss any promotion or advancement goodbye if she didn’t just get sent home.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Very well said and very true. And I love the “blood letting” term.
I do believe the term “fired” is a KBR joke. How many of you have seen these ‘fired” people let go and only to see them back in 6-8 months? Then there was the situation at Duke in Najaf. A Mgr was video taping his “conquests” and somehow those films got out. He was fired and his partner in crime, “Peanut” , immediately demobed, hmmm? Peanut is now back and driving truck again. Peanut somehow got around the nepotism rule at Duke and hired a whole bunch of family, hmmm? There are still some here who know what I am talking about. Say hi to him when you see him.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I have heard of people being “fired” but actually they were sent to Kuwait or Djibouti or some other KBR job. I know we had a pumber GF who was caught the IZ Police (US Air Force) with an Iraqi girl inside the Green Zone (IZ), he quit before he could get fired by KBR and went to work for PAE at the new embassy in Baghdad. Got fired from there for ??? and KBR hired him back. Because he was banned from the Green Zone(IZ) due to the Iraqi girl incident they sent him to another camp. Just think, you could be working with a pedophile! I would like to talk to you more about this video taping incident. I am shooting you an email.
If the DoDIG or any criminal investigator wants specific names email me from the Contact Us tab at the top of the page.
You must be referring the the women that were hired specifically to be some managers girlfriend. Those women couldn’t get fired for anything. The managers used to have the authority to hand pick who they hired so they hired their girlfriends from the States or the Balkans. Oh did I fail to mention most of these managers were married.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
I only knew of one Manager who brought his girlfriend over from the States. Then I guess his other girlfriend in country got pissed and called his wife and told her all about it and I guess she raised hell in Houston and then he wasn’t married anymore. I think the worst he ever got was transferred. I am sending you and email. I would love to chat more about this.
How about the daily wanna get together and watch a “movie”? or the manager who asks if you are a “team player” wink wink. And lets not forget about those same managers sharing the details of their intimate Thailand trips or trips through Dubai.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Yes, I couldn’t agree more. They were quite the “movie” go-ers weren’t they. I am sending you an email. Would love to chat more about this.
I am actually believe that Siskel & Ebert (Ebert & Roper) contacted KBR Managers prior to taping their show “At The Movies” every week for their input and reviews of the new films.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
ha ha ha ha ha
Laughing about the “lets watch a movie”. Reminds me C7 it was called kicking rocks because all of the rocks between the CHUs you can hear people stepping at night. LOL!
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Too funny. “kicking rocks” I will have to remember that!
RYC: yeah he irked me a bit. LOL.
Ms Sparky’s Response:
Interesting…he hasn’t been back.