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November 14, 2007
'Cease and Desist': Trafficking Investigation Thwarted at Baghdad Embassy
The US State Department's chief investigator, Howard Krongard, told his staff not to investigate allegations of labor trafficking at the US embassy project in Baghdad, a House Committee hearing revealed today.
During his opening comments, Rep. Henry Waxman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee noted:
There are also allegations that the building’s contractor, First Kuwaiti, was involved in labor trafficking. When Mr. Krongard heard that his staff might investigate this issue, he sent them an e-mail that said, as one official described it, "cease and desist all work, I’m taking care of this."
It's worse than that: I first reported allegations of labor trafficking and worker abuse in October 2006 in a now award-winning story: Flying Baghdad Embassy Express.
One source working for Krongard tells me that when the story appeared, a staff member commented: "The cat is out of the bag now."
If true it means Krongard knew about the allegations well before October 2006. (That may be, in part, because I began asking questions about similar allegations with State Department officials in April 2006.)
Nevertheless, the US Justice Department was interested soon after my story appeared, according to Waxman's investigators:
When the Justice Department expressed an interest in a possible criminal investigation and prosecution in November 2006, however, Mr. Krongard barred his staff from communicating with a Justice Department prosecutor. In an e-mail, Mr. Krongard wrote: "This is something I am working on. Please do not do anything without talking to me."
Investigators who recently resigned from Krongard's office tell me that they received "numerous" complaints from "multiple" sources in 2006 as well early 2007. Krongard deemed them unworthy of looking into until June 2007, however postponed his personal investigation until September 2007 when he visited the embassy site. At that time, Krongard interviewed six workers selected by the embassy contractor out of several thousand laborers and then took a walking tour with an armed escort.
By that time, Krongard had given a heads up to the contractor and US State Department officials overseeing the project. Many sources who were at the construction site in Baghdad say the contractor covered up its alleged mess.
Given that the embassy contractor, First Kuwaiti General Trading and Contracting, has been accused of trafficking by numerous parties in the past, (see here and here and here) some might expect Krongard to have acted far more responsibly.
Apparently, Chairman Waxman is among those.
Here is an excerpt from his committee investigation:
On a trip to Iraq with Deputy Inspector General Bill Todd...Mr. Krongard personally examined allegations that First Kuwaiti was engaged in labor trafficking. Mr. Todd told the Committee that Mr. Krongard's cursory investigation, which involved interviewing six employees pre-selected by First Kuwaiti and touring the construction site with armed guards, was "very unorthodox." Patti Boyd, the Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audits, called Mr. Krongard’s investigation "an embarrassment to the community" and said it would "never pass muster … in any IG organization." Mr. DeDona, the Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, described Mr. Krongard's investigative approach as "ludicrous," and Brian Rubendall, a Special Agent-in-Charge, said it was "an affront … to our profession."
Interestingly enough: The Philippines also investigated First Kuwaiti after Waxman held a hearing about the trafficking allegations in late July. Phillipine officials also relied on First Kuwaiti as its primary source for the probe. The investigation resulted in the Philippine government repatriating 100 workers employed by First Kuwaiti who were found to be in Iraq illegally. I am also told by a second-hand source that India also repatriated 250 workers.
Was the Philippine investigation thorough? Perhaps.
Posted by davidphinney at November 14, 2007 08:00 PM
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