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Worker Tells of Rape by US Contractor Crew in Iraq

Jamie Leigh Jones suing KBR

By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 22, 2011 4:58 AM CDT

(Newser) – A former employee of US contractor KBR recounted a horrifying ordeal in which she was drugged, gang-raped in Iraq by other workers, and then locked in a shipping container by two company guards so she couldn't go to authorities. Jamie Leigh Jones, now 26, testified in a Texas courtroom that she was "scared to death" when she was shut up in the container in 2005 without food or water after she reported the attack to her supervisors. "I'm banging on the door, I say, 'I need to get out of here. I need to contact my dad,'" Jones said in testimony in her lawsuit against the company and former parent company Halliburton.

Jones is one of several women who have complained of sexual attacks and harassment at the company, reports ABC News. One of the men she is charging with rape has filed a countersuit against her, claiming the sex was consensual. She has been grilled on the stand about her sexual history, and the cross-examination will continue today.

Jamie Leigh Jones and attorney Todd Kelly exit the federal courthouse during a lunch break last week.
Jamie Leigh Jones and attorney Todd Kelly exit the federal courthouse during a lunch break last week.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jamie Leigh Jones listens to her attorneyas he speaks outside the federal courthouse last week.
Jamie Leigh Jones listens to her attorneyas he speaks outside the federal courthouse last week.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Jamie Leigh Jones and her husband, Kallan Daigle (center) listen as her attorney, Todd Kelly answers a question outside the federal courthouse in Houston last week.
Jamie Leigh Jones and her husband, Kallan Daigle (center) listen as her attorney, Todd Kelly answers a question outside the federal courthouse in Houston last week.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Former KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones testifies on Capitol Hill in 2007 before a panel investigation the need to enforce federal criminal law to protect Americans working abroad.
Former KBR employee Jamie Leigh Jones testifies on Capitol Hill in 2007 before a panel investigation the need to enforce federal criminal law to protect Americans working abroad.   (AP Photo/Greg Nash)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 15 comments
Mercenary_Soldier
Dec 7, 2011 6:20 AM CST
Hmm, I don't see a problem here. The guy was just doing what was natural to him. Just like gays do what's natural to them. Are you homophobic conservatives going to tell me that you think natural behavior is immoral? I mean really what is morality? Is it absolute? Certainly not! What may be immoral and wrong in one country, is perfectly acceptable in another. I mean take homosexuality. In a Muslim country, if you are caught gay, they burn you with fire due to an immaginary "god". Here in America we know better. I think we just need to let more freedom into the sexual arena, and let every fellow man answer the call of nature. Like a higher evolution. Apes do it, and do we call it rape? No, it's simply a natural and scientific behavior that should not be restrained. After all, are we any more different than animals? Of course not! Why do you think there are freedom organizations like PETA? Like the old saying goes, "A Rat is a Pig, is a Dog, is a Boy." There is no difference, and I greive to see such small minded people stomp on the very truth of science and extinguish your freedoms all because of some fairytale "god". It's about time there be a great awakening to the truth of nature, and science and life.
calmseacrest
Jun 25, 2011 6:29 PM CDT
Hooray, for the privatization of war,simply so the Republican neo-cons could loot the US Treasury. I remember how angry I felt when Shrub told how the Iraqis had killed ,dragged, and hung from a bridge, innocent civillian contractors. It was a few months later when I found out that they were armed Blackwater contractors that had  killed whole innocent Iraqi families. Shrub really played the whole US public, for his own demonic purposes. Hopefully, this young woman will get more than her due in damages, KBR has billions at their disposal to compensate her, thanks to us generous US tax payers. Deficit MY ASS!
passinthru
Jun 22, 2011 7:17 PM CDT
al franken proposed a law holding these companies accountable for the types of actions their employees make when things like this happen and the majority of republicans voted against it...voted against making companies liable for their employees getting raped by other employees...what a goddamn travesty those fuckers are...and surprise!  one of them even ran for president. where does the moral ground of these people actually stand? how much good could they possibly do for our country if they wont vote on something like this making companies accountable so they do more to provide some sort of protection to prevent it...allowing our country to continue to hire villainous companies with such history is scary.

 
Iraq • Baghdad • crime • kidnapping • rape • Halliburton • Jamie Leigh Jones • KBR

 
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