US Embassy Contractors in Kabul Accused of Abuse

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Source: Guardian

Guards hired by the US state department to protect diplomats and staff at the country's embassy in Afghanistan live and work in a "Lord of the Flies" environment in which they are subjected to hazing and other inappropriate behaviour by supervisors, a government oversight group said yesterday.

In a 10-page letter to the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, the independent Project on Government Oversight said the situation had led to a breakdown in morale and leadership that compromises security at the embassy in Kabul, where nearly 1,000 US diplomats, staff and Afghan nationals work.

Senator Claire McCaskill called on the state department to open an investigation into the performance and management of the contract with ArmorGroup North America. McCaskill, who chairs a Senate subcommittee on contracting oversight, said the new evidence called into question the company's ability to provide adequate security at a key facility.

She also demanded access to documents related to the contract, including any department reviews of alleged misconduct by ArmorGroup employees.

The nonprofit group's findings are based on interviews with ArmorGroup guards, documents, photographs and emails, which it says depict "Lord of the Flies" conditions. The reference is to the 1954 novel by William Golding in which a group of British schoolboys are stranded on a desert island and try, but fail, to govern themselves in a chaotic setting.

One email from a guard describes lurid conditions at Camp Sullivan, the guards' quarters a few miles from the embassy. The message described scenes of abuse including guards and supervisors urinating on people and "threats and intimidation from those leaders participating in this activity".

A number of guards say such conditions have created a "climate of fear and coercion". Those who refuse to participate are often ridiculed, humiliated or even fired, they said.

more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/02/us-embassy-kabul-abuse-allegations