Politics

Senator seeks inquiry of rape claims

Two women say they were raped in Iraq two years ago. Nobody has been charged yet.

By WES ALLISON, Times Staff Writer
Published December 15, 2007

WASHINGTON - Florida Sen. Bill Nelson has asked the Pentagon and the Justice Department for a thorough investigation into charges by two women, including one from Tampa, that they were raped by government contractors in Iraq.

In letters to Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, Nelson also expressed concern that the 2-year-old rape allegations are being ignored or covered up.

Nelson, a Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asked each Cabinet secretary if a criminal investigation is under way in either case, as well as whether the Pentagon or Justice Department has received similar allegations by other female U.S. contractors based in Iraq.

"Both of these incidents occurred approximately two years ago, yet no one has been charged in either case," Nelson wrote. "We need to know that there is a thorough and vigorous investigation."

The Tampa woman was working in Ramadi, Iraq, in 2005 for KBR Inc. subsidiary Service Employees International Inc. when, she alleges, she was sexually assaulted by a drunken male colleague.

Nelson said the Navy Criminal Investigative Service investigated and turned its findings over to the Justice Department, but nothing has come of it.

Though Nelson did not identify the woman, a 2006 lawsuit filed by a Tampa woman against KBR claims the company failed to adequately protect her from foreseeable harm.

Contacted at home late Friday, a family member said the woman would refer all questions to her attorney, John J. Spiegel of Miami. Spiegel could not be reached.

According to the lawsuit, the woman says the man gained access to her apartment after getting a key from an unsecured key locker. He had been drinking alcohol in the company of other KBR employees, a violation of company policy prohibiting alcohol on the premises.

KBR concealed the full identity and whereabouts of the man and did not advise her of any criminal prosecution against him, the lawsuit says. And, she claims, the company failed to adequately research the man's history "and should have known about the assailant's criminal and/or sexual and/or violent propensities."

The other woman, Jamie Leigh Jones, 22, a KBR employee from Houston, alleges several male colleagues drugged and raped her in 2005 while she was working in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Nelson wrote. She contends an Army doctor confirmed she was raped, and the State Department investigated her complaint.

On Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported that KBR president and chairman Bill Utt circulated a companywide e-mail disputing the claims.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has announced he plans to hold a hearing on Jones' case later this month. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who's running for president, and Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, also have asked for an investigation.

Both women filed federal suits against KBR this year because of the lack of progress in their complaints, Nelson's office said.

The Tampa woman's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, is in mediation. It says she suffered physical and mental anguish, including scarring and injuries that will require ongoing medical attention.

Times researcher John Martin and staff writer Rebecca Catalanello contributed to this report. Wes Allison can be reached at allison@sptimes.com or 202 463-0577.

[Last modified December 14, 2007, 23:19:13]