Friday, December 14, 2007

WTF?!?

this is utterly unbelievable - except i believe it because haven't we heard (some version of) this story before?

if you haven't already received the MoveOn alert, here it is:
...
Jamie Leigh Jones was a 20-year-old woman working in Iraq for a subsidiary of Halliburton when she was drugged and brutally gang-raped by several co-workers.
The next day, Halliburton told her that if she left Iraq to get medical treatment, she could lose her job.1
Jamie's story gets even more horrific: For the last two years, she's been asking the US government to hold the perpetrators accountable. But the men who raped her may never be brought to justice because Halliburton and other contractors in Iraq aren't subject to US or Iraqi laws. They can't be tried for a crime in any court.2
This is one of the most disturbing stories we have come across in a while. We're calling on Congress to investigate Jamie's case, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law so this can't happen again. If hundreds of thousands of us speak out against this outrageous story, we can force Congress to take action.


Can you sign the petition? ... Clicking below will add your name.
http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-4019649-L9cSbn&t=3

After you sign, please forward this email to friends, family and colleagues—we all need to speak out together.

When you get an email from us, it doesn't usually include a graphic description of a brutal attack. But when we heard this story, we knew we had to do something about it.
Here's how Jamie described what happened after the attack:
I awoke the next morning in the barracks to find my naked body battered and bruised. I was still groggy from whatever had been put in my drink. I was bleeding... After getting to the clinic and having a rape kit performed...I was locked in a container with no food, no way to call my parents, and was placed under armed guard by Halliburton.3

Jamie's attackers aren't the only ones exploiting a legal loophole to get away with their violent crimes. Another female employee of Halliburton says she was raped by her co-workers in Iraq.4 Employees of Blackwater, another private contracting firm in Iraq, were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians, and that incident turned into an international scandal. Worst of all, they may never be punished.5
Private contractors in Iraq are making massive amounts of money, operating above the law and are accountable to no one. This has to stop.
Congress needs to act now to bring these contractors under the rule of law. If they don't, nothing will prevent a case like Jamie's from happening again. No man or woman working in Iraq should have to fear that they can be attacked without consequences.


Please sign on to the petition: "Congress must investigate the rape of Jamie Leigh Jones and others, hold those involved accountable, and bring US contractors under the jurisdiction of US law." Clicking below adds your name:
http://pol.moveon.org/contractors_accountable/o.pl?id=11800-4019649-L9cSbn&t=4

Thanks for all you do,
–Nita, Wes, Karin, Marika, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Sources:
1.
"Halliburton hit in rape lawsuit," New York Daily News, December 11, 2007
2. "Victim: Gang-Rape Cover-Up by U.S., Halliburton/KBR," ABC News, December 10, 2007
3. Jamie's Journal, The Jamie Leigh Foundation
4.
"Female ex-employees sue KBR, Halliburton—report," Reuters, June 29, 2007
5."Blackwater Probe Narrows Focus to Guards," Associated Press, December 8, 2007

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

2 comments:

Andy Ternay said...

Hello ding,

Here is another opportunity to do something that will help women who are rape victims...

I am writing to ask if you would be willing to do a post on Wednesday, December 19th, about Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter on the Standing Rock reservation. In a nutshell, their house burned down and we are trying to raise money for a new house for them. I'm not asking you to contribute (although I would be grateful if you chose to do so). I'm simply asking if you would be willing to help spread the word via ChurchGal.

This far we have raised about $48,000 of the $70,000 they need to buy the house and security system for the house. Our idea was to try to do one big push before Christmas starting December 19th in hopes of finishing up the drive before the New Year. We are hoping to frontpage a diary on Daily Kos (one of last year's frontpagers is helping us with this) on Wednesday and have many feminist, progressive and Native American blogs join in.

I'm sure you are going to want more information and background before considering this so here are a few links to explain the whole background:

A pretty complete history of Pretty Bird Woman House can be found here: http://www.streetprophets.com/story/2007/11/12/172/20635

Our blog tracking the fundraiser is here: http://prettybirdwomanhouse.blogspot.com/ (including photos of the house they hope to purchase!)

Our chip-in page for donations is here: http://prettybirdwomanhousefund.chipin.com/pretty-bird-woman-house

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the email below or you can reach Betsy Campisi (chairwoman of this fundraising drive) at campisib at gmail dot com.

Feel free to use any information from the Street Prophets diary or the Pretty Bird Woman House blog, that is what it is there for.

Thank you for your consideration,

Andy

Andy Ternay
andy2201 at mac dot com

Andy Ternay on Street Prophets
Andyt on Daily Kos

Andy Ternay said...

Hello ding,

Here is another opportunity to do something that will help women who are rape victims...

I am writing to ask if you would be willing to do a post on Wednesday, December 19th, about Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter on the Standing Rock reservation. In a nutshell, their house burned down and we are trying to raise money for a new house for them. I'm not asking you to contribute (although I would be grateful if you chose to do so). I'm simply asking if you would be willing to help spread the word via ChurchGal.

This far we have raised about $48,000 of the $70,000 they need to buy the house and security system for the house. Our idea was to try to do one big push before Christmas starting December 19th in hopes of finishing up the drive before the New Year. We are hoping to frontpage a diary on Daily Kos (one of last year's frontpagers is helping us with this) on Wednesday and have many feminist, progressive and Native American blogs join in.

I'm sure you are going to want more information and background before considering this so here are a few links to explain the whole background:

A pretty complete history of Pretty Bird Woman House can be found: on Street Prophets.

Our blog tracking the fundraiser is here (including photos of the house they hope to purchase!)

Our chip-in page for donations is here

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at the email below or you can reach Betsy Campisi (chairwoman of this fundraising drive) at campisib at gmail dot com.

Feel free to use any information from the Street Prophets diary or the Pretty Bird Woman House blog, that is what it is there for.

Thank you for your consideration,

Andy

Andy Ternay
andy2201 at mac dot com

Andy Ternay on Street Prophets
Andyt on Daily Kos