Tuesday, July 20, 2010
U.S. government contractors may be engaging in sex trafficking in Iraq and Afghanistan, but officials in Washington appear to be taking no action despite a law created to discourage the illicit behavior.
According to the law approved eight years ago by President George W. Bush, the government is supposed to prosecute contractors who buy or sell humans, and then ban the contractors from doing federal work.
Agencies claim they don’t have the resources to pursue companies accused of such charges. Human rights groups refuse to believe the inaction on the part of the government is due solely to limited resources.
“Zero prosecutions suggests zero effort to enforce the law,” Martina Vandenberg, a lawyer and former Human Rights Watch investigator, told The Washington Post.
The State Department has acknowledged allegations of contractors paying for prostitution, but no convictions or contract terminations have come about from them.
About 10 years ago, employees of Dyncorp International, a major defense contractor, were accused of buying and selling women throughout Eastern Europe.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
U.S. Policy a Paper Tiger Against Sex Trade in War Zones (by Nick Schwellenbach and Carol Leonnig, Washington Post)
KBR, Partner in Iraq Contract Sued in Human Trafficking Case (by Dana Hedgpeth, Washinton Post)
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