U.S. Embassy builder investigated, Truth or Fiction, You Decide

Source: UPI
WASHINGTON, June 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department is investigation allegations a Kuwaiti company deceived and mistreated foreign workers building the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Investigations by the U.S. military and the U.S. State Department inspector general found no evidence that First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting Co. had tricked its employees into working in Iraq or were keeping them there against their will by locking up their passports, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Two Americans who had worked at the site told federal prosecutors that the workers from Pakistan and Africa had been mistreated, sources told the Journal.
First Kuwaiti, which is barred from hiring Iraqi workers on the $592 million project, issued a statement denying the allegations.
"We are not aware of any (Department of Justice) investigation involving First Kuwaiti. The (Department of State) has already fully investigated these ludicrous allegations and has found them to be without merit. First Kuwaiti is proud of its accomplishments and of its efforts to build the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on time, within budget, and in compliance with the law," the company said in a statement to the newspaper.
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A U.S. Fortress Rises in Baghdad:Asian Workers Trafficked to Build World's Largest Embassy

Pentagon Finds Worker Abuse and Trafficking in Iraq, but Penalizes No One On April 4, 2006, the Pentagon issued a new contracting directive following a secret investigation that officially confirms what many South Asian laborers have been complaining about ever since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some contractors, many working as subcontractors to Halliburton /KBR in Iraq, were found to be using deceptive, bait-and-switch hiring practices and charging recruiting fees that indebted low-paid migrant workers for many months or even years to their employers. Contractors were also accused of providing substandard, crowded sleeping quarters, serving poor food, and circumventing Iraqi immigration procedures. While the Pentagon declines to specifically name those contractors found to be doing business in this way, it also acknowledged in an April 19 memorandum that it was a widespread practice among contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan to take away workers passports. Holding onto employee passports -- a direct violation of US labor trafficking laws -- helped stop workers from leaving war-torn Iraq or taking better jobs with other contractors. Contractors engaging in the practice, states the memo, must immediately "cease and deist." "All passports will be returned to employees by 1 May 06. This requirement will be flowed down to each of your subcontractors performing work in this theater." The Pentagon has yet to announce of any penalty for those found to be in violation of US labor trafficking laws or contract requirements. LinkHere