Amnesty Intl launches new campaign to hold military and security contractors accountable

Blackwater and other security contractors have been involved in numerous crimes in Iraq and elsewhere, but have yet to be held accountable. And that is just wrong.

So Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) has launched a new "Counter Terror with Justice" campaign to do something about it.

Below are some excerpts from an e-mail I received from Larry Cox, Executive Director of AIUSA, about the new campaign:

Imagine you're a security contractor dispatched to Iraq - a place where your greatest fear is being hit by a roadside bomb. But mere days after you arrive, you are gang raped by co-workers... and then pressured by company management to "get over it" or lose your job.

This is the story of 23-year-old American Jamie Leigh Jones, who recently recounted her personal horror in Iraq two years ago as an employee of KBR, Halliburton's former subsidiary, before a House subcommittee.

There are an estimated 180,000 private contractors working in Iraq, yet they seem to operate above the law both in Iraq and the U.S. This culture of impunity allows abuse and killings to thrive - with little recourse for the victims. Amnesty International is working to stop this. [...]

It's been more than 4 years since the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Even though the Army's internal reports indicated contractor involvement in the abuses and the Department of Justice (DOJ) established a "Detainee Abuse Task Force" in 2004, it has not prosecuted a single contractor for abuses in Iraq to date. When pressed for answers, DOJ has simply said these cases remain "open" and that investigations are continuing.

Through our new "Counter Terror with Justice" campaign, Amnesty is working to reverse these injustices that further denigrate our nation's reputation around the world. All companies and contractors have an obligation to respect human rights at home and abroad. And the business community as a whole has a wider responsibility -- moral and legal -- to use its influence to promote respect for human rights.

With the stakes growing higher every day, we must move quickly to stop these egregious abuses in the "war on terror." [Through this campaign, Amnesty will:]

• Pressure the Justice Department to expedite investigations and prosecute cases of clear human rights violations by contractors.

• Pressure the Senate to pass a loophole-free version of the Security Contractor Accountability Act, a bill that would ensure that private military and security contractors are not above the law. A similar bill has already passed in the House. [...]

• Drive increased media and public attention to the U.S.'s illegal practices in the war on terror.

I am so pleased that AIUSA is going to step up its work on these issues by launching a whole new program to deal with them.

How you can help:

>> Tell Attorney General Michael Mukasey to investigate military contractors who torture and kill.