Thirteen Nepali men were recruited and held against their will for thirteen months in a human trafficking scheme engineered and perpetrated by Halliburton and its Jordanian contractor, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in California federal court.
The Nepali men, each between the ages of 18 and 27, were allegedly hired as kitchen staff by the then-Halliburton subsidiary KBR and its Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners. Once they arrived in Jordan, however, their passports were seized and they were dispatched to Iraq.
“Tragically, as the men were being transported to Iraq, a car containing twelve of the men was stopped by members of the Ansar al-Sunna Army, an insurgent group,” the Washington lawfirm Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll writes. “The 12 men in the car were taken hostage and executed by the insurgents. The executions were filmed and posted on the Internet. The Inspector General for the United States Department of Defense investigated and confirmed the facts related to the fate of the 12 men, which led to increased enforcement of anti-trafficking measures by the United States.”
Only one man survived. After he was released by Iraqi rebels, he said he was assigned to work as a loader/unloader in a US military warehouse facility supervised by KBR. He asserts that he was held for 15 months against his well, before the firm finally allowed him to return home to Nepal.
Cohen, Milstein is suing on behalf of their families and the remaining survivor, Buddi Prasad Gurung. According to the law firm, their families went deep into debt to pay recruiting fees to Halliburton’s contractor in order to get promised jobs.
This spring, a judge at the Department of Labor ordered KBR’s contractor, Daoud, to pay $1 million to the families of 11 of the victims. “The Inspector General for the United States Department of Defense investigated and confirmed the facts related to the fate of the 12 men, which led to increased enforcement of anti-trafficking measures by the United States,” the lawfirm said in a release.
KBR declined to comment directly on the charges when contacted by the Washington Post Wednesday.
The family members and the survivor are suing under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and the Alien Tort Claims Act. The DC lawfirm representing them often focuses on victims of forced and slave labor and other violations of international law.
What’s it going to take to shut this Mafia down…..do you think Obama will do it? Congress? Think again.
So another guilt by association the Jordanian contractor held these men against their will not KBR not Halliburton but since all you lefties think KBR is Satan incarnate it makes good reading to tag them on to the story.
The company that supposedly pulled these great scams and covered up so many bad deeds is going to be dumb enough to cooperate in holding some men hostage to make them cook when Americans are lined up begging for the high paying jobs they offer
#1
And I take it since these hyoomans are not redneck Christians they’re disposable?
Its says KBR and its Jordanian subcontractor, Daoud & Partners. It also says “Only one man survived. After he was released by Iraqi rebels, he said he was assigned to work as a loader/unloader in a US military warehouse facility supervised by KBR against his will.”
Just how is that guilt by association?
I bet 2 cents that they were on their way to work at the US Embessy construction project.
Not all lefties. Obama says Blackwater’s been given a bad rap.
US contractor abuse of their workers in Iraq and Kuwait is well-known overseas but seems to be ignored in America.
Halliburtan is basically using the same abusive “guest worker” system used in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other arab countries… but with the extra knife twist of putting their lives at risk.
It’s really not surprise that Halliburton is moving to that region, since their corporate culture has so much in common with the Arab cultural world view.
Halliburton shouldn’t exist.
Mercenaries have been guilty of the most shocking atrocities since warfare began.
And who remembers a Bill being passed, about KBR and haliburton NOT being held liable for any crimes??
Exactly what McSame is offering.
4 MORE years of misery.
rawstory = BS.
#10, Kev
How so? They link their story to the law firm and the press release. Their back ground material is public knowledge. So what is bullshit?
If you are calling bullshit on a cited article, then I suggest you provide what you all the truth.
The right’s abuse of liberals… like some in this thread… is well known and still being tolerated by the left themselves to this day.
It seems some can only identify themselves by their afflicted condition.
#12, James,
That village in Texas, Crawford, is losing their village idiot. I recommended you as the replacement. They told me no. They want an idiot, not a total effen retard.