KBR TRAFFICKING LAWSUIT GENERATING WIDE INTEREST

UNCLAS AMMAN 002671 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KTIP NP IZ JO SUBJECT: KBR TRAFFICKING LAWSUIT GENERATING WIDE INTEREST IN JORDAN ¶1. (U) Summary: A lawsuit recently filed in California against Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc., and Jordanian firm Daoud & Partners for allegedly trafficking 13 Nepalese into Iraq has generated wide interest. Commentators are demanding that the GOJ investigate, prodded along by spurious allegations that the Chief of the Royal Court is involved (septel). In 2005, the Ministry of Labor closed one of the co-conspirator companies named in the lawsuit, Morning Star for Recruitment and Manpower Supply, for its role in facilitating the entry of laborers into Jordan. The company is again operational but not believed to be directly recruiting workers. No other investigations or measures were taken against any of the companies named in the lawsuit. On September 10 Foreign Minister Salah Bashir denied that the MFA or Jordanian Embassy in the U.S. had received any notice of, or had any information about, the lawsuit. Origins of the Lawsuit -------------- ¶2. (U) Family members of twelve Nepalese taken hostage and killed in Iraq in 2004 and a survivor of the incident submitted a lawsuit on August 27 in the Central District Court of California alleging they were trafficked across international borders to provide labor in U.S. military facilities. The complaint is against Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (KBR),and its Jordanian subcontractor Daoud & Partners (Daoud). Three companies are also listed as co-conspirators and active participants in the trafficking enterprise: Moonlight Consultant Pvt, Ltd (Moonlight),Morning Star for Recruitment and Manpower Supply (Morning Star),and Bisharat & Partners (Bisharat). Moonlight is a Nepalese Company. Morning Star and Bisharat are Jordanian companies as is Daoud & Partners. ¶3. (U) According to the complaint, Moonlight recruited the plaintiffs through an advertisement for hotel jobs in Amman. Once in Jordan, Morning Star provided the plaintiffs to Daoud, reportedly sub-contracted by KBR to provide workers for their work in Iraq. The plaintiffs were allegedly required to hand over their passports, told there were no hotel jobs, and informed they would be working at Al Asad Air Base, north of Ramadi, instead. Daoud then contracted Bisharat to transport the plaintiffs to Ramadi. Bisharat arranged the transportation along the dangerous Amman-to-Baghdad Highway where two weeks earlier, Daoud had seen two drivers kidnapped. Part of the caravan was intercepted, with twelve Nepalese taken hostage and later killed. The surviving plaintiff made it safely to the Air Base. ¶4. (U) Also according to an article in the Washington Business Journal on July 11, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Administrative Law ruled in April 2008 that the men's families were entitled to death benefits. The same law firm, Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll PLC, that filed the aforementioned complaint sued, pro bono, Daoud and its insurance company under the Defense Base Act, which is similar to a workers' compensation statute for military facilities overseas. Daoud was ordered to pay $100,000 to the families of each victim. KBR was not part of the lawsuit because the relevant insurance policy was written in the name of Daoud. Legal Actions -------------- ¶5. (U) On March 17, the Jordanian MFA provided post a diplomatic note (in response to a February 2008 diplomatic note asking for information for the 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report) stating that Morning Star was closed by the Ministry of Labor in 2005 after its owner, Adnalin Frank Kiko Santos, was summoned to explain its role in this trafficking case after it was detailed in the media. According to the diplomatic note, it was clear that the owner's husband, Iyad Mansur, who had previous experience working with Moonlight, had facilitated the recruitment of the Nepali workers. The note also indicated that the Nepali workers did not enter the country under the name of Morning Star but as transit passengers. MOL officials subsequently confirmed this last point. ¶6. (U) According to the diplomatic note and several MOL officials, Morning Star itself filed a criminal lawsuit against Iyad Mansur in Amman Criminal Court stating that he individually, and not the company, was responsible for the recruitment of the workers. According to the MOL, the case is still pending and Morning Star is again in business but not directly recruiting workers. No other investigations or actions were taken against any of the co-conspirators (Daoud, Morning Star, or Bisharat) in Jordan. An Agence France-Presse article on September 8 quotes a statement from Daoud that it denies "any role in the unfortunate case" and "does not have any information that a lawsuit was filed against it outside of Jordan." Call for Investigations -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The lawsuit has prompted a flurry of stories and opinion pieces in the Jordanian press. The level of interest can be partially attributed to false assertions that Bassem Awadallah, Chief of the Royal Court, had a stake in one of the companies (septel). Despite the mud being thrown in Awadallah's direction, the underlying messages being aired are that trafficking is serious, that it violates Jordanian law and harms Jordan's interests, and that the allegations detailed in the complaint need to be investigated. Visit Amman's Classified Website at: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman Beecroft Beecroft