Human Trafficking Not at a Standstill

For years there have been allegations of contractors engaging in sex and labor trafficking in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Bosnia. The Department of Defense (DoD) confirmed (p. 21 of 295) human trafficking problems in 2006. As a result, the government amended its contracting rules to implement policies prohibiting activities on the part of its contractors, subcontractors, and their employees that support or promote trafficking in persons (TIP).

According to a recent piece in The Daily Caller, those new rules are having little impact. The author writes that “not a single case has ever been filed by the government and no contractor has ever been suspended under the law’s provisions.”

Additionally, relying on a DoD IG report issued earlier this year, the article stated that “more than 50 percent of the 99 contracts reviewed did not even contain the clause mandated by the trafficking statute that informs contractors of conduct constituting trafficking-in-persons violations. Not surprisingly, the report went on to say, the contractors interviewed were not even aware that trafficking in persons was illegal.”

This revelation isn’t news to POGO or POGO's director of investigations, Nick Schwellenbach, who wrote on the issue this summer for The Washington Post.

POGO has been continually disappointed regarding DoD's and State’s responses to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for records involving allegations of trafficking in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2006, DoD responded to POGO’s FOIA request stating that contracts with the new anti-trafficking clause were not being identified and that any trafficking allegations were in the hands of “1,500 contracting offices.”

POGO hasn’t received a substantive response from the DoD, the DoD IG, or State to its more recent July 2, 2009 TIP FOIA request.

For more information on human trafficking go to the State Department or DoD.

-- Scott Amey

See also:

• Under the Radar: Human Trafficking in Iraq Reconstruction Efforts
• New Whistleblower Movie Makes Big Splash at Canadian Premiere
• POGO urges DoD to strengthen and clarify its anti-human trafficking interim rule

Comments

[Pat]

Ten years, an no prosecution? That this is happening on USG contracts is outrageous.

[GovConMaven]

Nice post Scott. It's amazing that that no suspensions or debarments have been proposed.