Connect with us

Whistleblower: True Tale Of Sex Trafficking, Modern Day Slavery, Deceit

Published

on

 Tanya Domi lived and worked in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1996-2000 to assist the country recover from war. During a research trip to Sarajevo in 2001 she broke the biggest story of her journalism career–a tale of  high crimes, deceit and exploitation. 

Ten years ago, I broke the story of my life from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, about the riveting and courageous actions of American Kathryn Bolkovac, a UN human rights investigator who uncovered an extensive presence of human sex trafficking in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The trafficking was aided and abetted by UN police monitors, Bosnian police and government officials, high-level UN and State Department officials, including now retired U.S. Ambassador Jacques Paul Klein, who at the time was the highest ranking UN official in Bosnia and had the responsibility for overseeing the UN’s International Police Task Force.

My story was first published in Oslobodenje (“Liberation”), the oldest daily newspaper in the country, in  June, 2001 and with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in July, 2001 — the first time human trafficking and prostitution graced the content of its important web pages.

Kathryn Bolkovac was demoted for doing her job by J. Michael Stiers, the Deputy Commissioner of the UN Police Task Force, which ultimately led to her firing delivered by Jamie Popwell, both DynCorp hires and seconded by the State Department.  DynCorp, a U.S. government subcontractor provides American employees to international missions throughout the world. DynCorp is also a multi-national military and security company, based in Virginia, was purchased in 2010 by the Cerberus Capital Management Company, located in New York City.

The film, “The Whistleblower,” starring Academy-award winner Rachel Weisz as Kathryn Bolkovac, opens in New York City and Los Angeles today and will be released in U.S. cities coast-to-coast on August 12. Being touted as a movie to watch and a potential Oscar contender, the feature thriller is directed by Larysa Kondracki, in her inaugural debut, who earned her M.F.A. in film from Columbia University. Rex Reed, luminary film critic, gives “The Whistleblower” a big boost in the latest edition of the New York Observer, writing the film “reveals a truth more chilling than fiction” and that it’s “rare to see a thriller with the patience to tell an important story and develop a three-dimensional character at the same time.”

Bolkovac with Vincent Couerderoy, IPTF Commissioner, 2001

Also cast is the indomitable actress Vanessa Redgrave, who portrays Madeleine Rees, a British human rights barrister and the former director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Sarajevo.  Rees confronted Klein on Bolkovac’s illegal termination and called in reinforcements from her superior then–Mary Robinson, the High Commissioner and the former president of Ireland.  Rees, a heroine in her own right, stood up inside the UN system against Klein and his off-the-rails leadership, instigating an unprecedented investigation into the dealings of the Bosnian Mission.

This drama, inspired by events put in motion by Bolkovac’s penetrating investigations, will perhaps, once and for all, educate the U.S. public not only about the scourge of human trafficking, but an even more important message, according to Bolkovac, which she refers to as a “web of deceit” that was woven by a consortium of governments.

The UN, private companies and international actors that actively conspired and collaborated, as in the Bolkovac case, thwarting any effort to bring international contractors to justice for their criminal participation in trafficking the bodies of women and children for money and power.

Most of the men involved in these crimes, many of them Americans, if caught, were sent home, absent consequences and were not prosecuted for any crimes, despite the egregiously serious nature of the crimes, like enslavement, or selling women into illegal prostitution, which is a crime in Bosnia.  That did not matter. What mattered was getting Bolkovac to shut-down her investigations, which UN officials conspired to create a ruse, declaring Bolkovac to be “stressed-out and needing a break” and accused her of submitting falsified times sheets (later disproved by a London labor tribunal which unanimously upheld Bolkovac’s complaint that she was wrongly terminated), as the reason to send her packing when she abruptly left the country in April 2001, fearing for her life and future career as a police officer.

Bolkovac, a former Nebraska police officer, volunteered for duty in Bosnia to help get the country back on its feet, after three years of war that took place 1992-1995, marking the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the Bosnian war 100,000 to 110,000 persons were killed. Sarajevo was placed under siege by the Bosnian Serb Army by foisting artillery guns on the hills surrounding a breathtaking city  in a valley that was built more than 600 years ago, joined with sniper nests who took target practice on innocent civilians, killing 10,000, including  more than 1,000 children, whose graves now encircle the 1984 Olympic Stadium, once the pride and joy of Yugoslavia. The siege of Sarajevo was the longest in the history of modern warfare.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Fzn0vYNikI&version=3&hl=en_US]

While all wars are hideous, the most recent Balkan wars, in particular was characterized by the macabre specter of former friends and neighbors who turned on one another, resorted to rape, torture and the whole sale jailing of people, mostly Muslim, who were confined to concentration and rape camps, some executed and buried in mass graves, which continue to be excavated in the present, betraying the remains of bodies that have been moved two to three times by their guilty perpetrators.

The global changes that ensued while Yugoslavia came undone in combination with war, helped create a corrupt environment where crime could travel through porous borders and allowed human trafficking to flourish throughout the Balkans. Women from the poorest countries of the Former Soviet Union–Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine–were trafficked through Belgrade to Kosovo and into Eastern Bosnia, where NATO soldiers and international contractors, present in large numbers, helped themselves to the “prostitutes,” who had been falsely lured with the promises of good paying jobs.

The Bosnian episode of human trafficking uncovered by Bolkovac was confirmed by the prodigious work of former Human Rights Watch researcher, attorney Martina Vandenberg, who authored a report published in 2002 titled “Hopes Betrayed: Trafficking of Women and Girls to Post-Conflict Bosnia and Herzegovina for Forced Prostitution.”

As for DynCorp, although they were found guilty for Bolkovac’s unjustified and retaliatory termination by an unanimous London Labor Tribunal, they continue to publicly maintain, as recently as January 2011 that Bolkovac’s employment in Bosnia was terminated because she submitted falsified timesheets.  In an audacious email message sent to its employees in anticipation of the release of Bolkovac’s memoir about Bosnia, dated January 4, 2011 from Joe Kale, DynCorp International’s Chief Compliance Officer wrote:

“DI does not tolerate any form of retaliation against persons who raise good faith complaints…We strongly disagree with Ms. Bolkovac’s assertions surrounding the circumstances of her dismissal, and with a British employment tribunal that ruled in her favor in 2002. She was dismissed for falsifying timesheets and being absent from work without approval. Nonetheless, we do not plan to engage in a public debate over allegations made a decade ago. We feel that doing so would diminish the importance of the issue: that human trafficking is a serious crime that cannot be tolerated.”

Where are all these individuals now? Madeleine Rees is Secretary General of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Martina Vandenberg continues to pursue bad guys via a robust pro-bono practice.  She is currently taking down wayward diplomats who illegally detain domestic workers. Vandenberg played an instrumental role during the past decade in successfully urging Congress to close the U.S. contractor loophole, that had previously not permitted prosecution under The Trafficking Victims Protection Act.  In recent years, U.S. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)  contributed new language that provides nearly universal jurisdiction for prosecution under of any U.S. national, permanent resident or an offender of any nationality present on U.S. territory under 18 U.S.C. 1596, considered a major advance. J. Michael Stiers continues to work internationally.

According to the Washington Post, Klein, who became the head of the UN Mission to Liberia, was terminated for an inappropriate relationship  with “Linda Fawaz, a 30-year-old Liberian American woman whose uncle headed a major timber company”. According to a UN report, “Fawaz (identified as “Local Woman”) accompanied Klein (described as “Senior Official”) to diplomatic functions and regularly traveled on U.N. aircraft in violation of organizational rules.”

Last month, retired U.S. Ambassador Thomas Miller, who represented the U.S. government in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the period that Bolkovac was fired, publicly  apologized to Bolkovac for the actions taken against her, during a public forum at the Brookings Institution.  Bolkovac now lives in Breda, The Netherlands with her domestic partner Jan van de Velde, who she met and fell in love with in Bosnia.  She no longer works as a police officer and is effectively barred from doing so as DynCorp controls all the international contracts for police to international missions.  Bolkovac would like to train police for international mission work, teach them how to conduct investigations into all crimes, including human trafficking.

Tanya L. Domi is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, who teaches about human rights in Eurasia and is a Harriman Institute affiliated faculty member. Prior to teaching at Columbia, Domi worked internationally for more than a decade on issues related to democratic transitional development, including political and media development, human rights, gender issues, sex trafficking, and media freedom.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

Report: House GOP Eyes $2.5 Trillion in Spending Cuts — Social Security, Medicare at Risk

Published

18 hours ago

on

December 20, 2024

By

House Republicans on Friday presented a proposal during a closed-door meeting to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s directive to raise the debt ceiling. The plan proposes increasing the limit on debt by $1.5 trillion, followed by cutting “net mandatory spending” by $2.5 trillion, according to a report from Punchbowl News co-founder Joe Sherman.

Mandatory spending consists largely of programs including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which the government by law is required to fund. These programs are often referred to as “entitlements.” It also includes spending on interest on the national debt, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), and programs like SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that helps feed over 40 million participants — including families — each month.

Sherman reported Friday afternoon, amid the impending government shutdown crisis, that “IN THE GOP MEETING — GOP leadership has a slide up that has an ‘agreement’ on the debt limit.”

“The ‘agreement’ says that House Republicans will raise the debt limit by $1.5T in the ‘first reconciliation package’ alongside a promise to CUT $2.5T in ‘net mandatory spending in the reconciliation process.'”

READ MORE: ‘What Constitution Is He Reading?’: Republican’s Interpretation of Role of Congress Stuns

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke shared what appears to be a photograph of that slide:

A recent, somewhat cryptic remark by President-elect Donald Trump seems to echo Sherman’s and Brufke’s reporting, and that of others: “The United States will cut Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in spending next year through Reconciliation!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website, early Thursday evening.

Adding more details, and referencing “reconciliation,” The Hill’s Emily Brooks reports Friday afternoon: “The spending cuts-for-debt-limit-increase agreement being presented to GOP members includes a plan to cut mandatory spending. Mandatory spending includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans benefits, and more.”

“The agreement being eyed would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $2.5 trillion in net cuts to mandatory spending, done through a reconciliation package, two sources confirmed to The Hill,” Brooks added. “It is not clear which programs would be cut. The reconciliation process is a special procedure that gets around the Senate filibuster, allowing Republicans who will have trifecta control of government to push through their priorities without needing Democratic support.”

Brooks also explained that “Republicans have long been planning to use this process to advance an ambitious legislative agenda that includes extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and addressing border security. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, however, notes that while reconciliation can be used to address most mandatory spending program, the Budget Act prohibits using it to change Social Security.”

The executive editor of The American Prospect, David Dayen, wrote: “They’re coming for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”

“Mandatory spending cuts is Republican swamp speak for gutting your hard-earned Medicare,” commented U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Dems Slam Johnson’s Refusal to Negotiate as Government Hurls Toward Shutdown

“Republicans are planning to rob you of your retirement & health care,” observed U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

What could this mean?

Bobby Kogan, Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy for The Center for American Progress writes that Republicans “have been open about wanting to gut Medicaid and SNAP. $2.5 trillion in cuts could mean: -cutting Medicaid 32% -cutting Medicaid & SNAP 28% -entirely eliminating SNAP, TANF, SSI, and the Child Care entitlement to states.”

TANF, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, helps “families with children experiencing low-income achieve economic security and stability.”

SSI, also known as Supplemental Security Income, helps “people with disabilities and older adults who have little or no income or resources.”

“If the cut fell entirely on Medicaid,” Kogan added, “it would mean on average about 32 million people were kicked off of Medicaid (depending on how they structured the cuts).”

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) remarked, “House Republicans just proposed slashing Medicare and Medicaid. I’ll stay in Washington until Hell freezes over to stop them.”

READ MORE: Why Aren’t More Democrats Speaking Out Against RFK Jr.’s HHS Nomination?

Trump during the campaign promised to cut “entitlements” and promised to never cut Social Security or Medicare.

Watch the videos below or at this link.

 

Continue Reading

News

‘What Constitution Is He Reading?’: Republican’s Interpretation of Role of Congress Stuns

Published

21 hours ago

on

December 20, 2024

By

A House Republican’s interpretation of the constitutional role of Congress has left some stunned, after he suggested it is not a co-equal branch of government, but rather, intended to be supportive of “President Trump,” and “implement” his agenda.

The U.S. Constitution is clear: Congress’s role is to make laws, the executive branch’s role is to implement and enforce them.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) appeared to get the roles reversed.

“The president was elected by the people. What was on the ballot was the America First agenda,” Congressman Meuser told Fox Business Friday (video below). “The president’s plan is what we should be backing.”

“You know, our role is really to be more of a of a supportive board of directors, so we can implement what the American people voted for,” he claimed, conflating two co-equal branches of government. “Republicans need to get on board with President Trump. He is the commander in chief. He is the president. He is the decider in chief, and he’s the CEO.”

READ MORE: ‘Sick’: Dems Slam Johnson’s Refusal to Negotiate as Government Hurls Toward Shutdown

Meuser also claimed that the original bill Speaker of the House Mike Johnson put forth on Tuesday should have had the provision to extend or eliminate the debt ceiling that President-elect Donald Trump had wanted. Trump notified Congress via a post on his Truth Social platform Wednesday after 5 PM — well after the text of the first bill has been released on Tuesday —that he wanted the debt ceiling language in the bill.

“I mean, this, on the entire problem began because we received almost 1500 pages on Tuesday evening, and there was a lot that was in it that was unexpected, and there were things that were not in it that were expected, apparently, particularly uh, the president’s request for for a debt ceiling. Uh, uh, now we uh we we we’re here at the eleventh hour.”

Meuser also insisted Congress needs to pass a bill “with any revisions that the White House can live with — that President Trump can live with, because again, this is his plan that should be implemented.”

Critics expressed concern over Congressman Meuser’s claims.

“What Constitution is he reading? Because it’s definitely not the American one,” remarked former Obama White House advisor and Deputy Communications Director TJ Adams-Falconer.

READ MORE: Trump Threatens Shutdown, Says Biden Will Be Blamed

“Ah yes, who could forget Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution, establishing a ‘supportive board of directors,'” snarked Tim Mulvey, who has an extensive resume in government, including serving as communications director for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, and communications director for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

“Someone should tell @RepMeuser he’s the member of a co-equal branch of government,” commented MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen.

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Orders Senate GOP to Not ‘Fast-Track’ Confirmations — Will Some Nominees Change?

 

Image: Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead, public domain via Wikimedia

 

Continue Reading

News

‘Sick’: Dems Slam Johnson’s Refusal to Negotiate as Government Hurls Toward Shutdown

Published

23 hours ago

on

December 20, 2024

By

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reportedly plans to bring a third spending bill to the House floor for a vote on Friday morning, just hours before an increasingly likely federal government shutdown at midnight. The bill must pass in the House, clear the Senate, and be signed into law by President Joe Biden to avert a shutdown, which would come just days before Christmas as Congress plans to leave D.C. for its holiday recess.

Given Johnson’s razor-thin majority, he will need votes from Democrats, who are furious over his refusal to negotiate with them. As CBS News’ Scott MacFarlane reports, “Democratic votes are needed – no matter what — to avoid a shutdown.”

On Thursday night, 38 Republicans refused to vote for the House GOP’s bill.

Axios’s Andrew Solender reports that Democrats are saying the problem “is not just that [Republicans] killed the original deal – though that’s a big one – but that they’re negotiating with themselves. ‘They keep trying to guess what Dems will vote for, they should just talk to the Democratic Leader,’ says a senior House Dem[ocrat].”

RELATED: ‘Hell No!’: Democrats ‘Unified’ Against Reworked Funding Bill More Favorable to Trump

Thursday evening, Speaker Johnson and House Republicans were warned they needed to include Democrats in their negotiations to keep the government open.

“You know, denial is not just a river in Egypt,” began U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), known for his often sarcastic remarks.

“Let’s talk about the last two years. It was the Democrats who raised the debt ceiling, not the Republicans last time. Many of you voted against it. It was the Democrats who kept open the government, not once, not twice, but every single time we needed to keep the government open, it was the Democrats who kept the government open. More of us voted for it than you.”

“And all I’ve heard for the last couple of weeks about is this giant mandate landslide trifecta,” Moskowitz continued. “Put on your big boy pants, pass your own bill.”

“We’re only here because you guys can’t agree amongst yourselves,” he added, to applause. “Democrats will keep government open for the American people. We will mediate the disagreements between that side of the room and that side of the room — we will do that for you, but you’ve got to at least invite us to that meeting. So if you want us to solve your problem because you can’t agree amongst yourselves, reach out.”

Far right Florida Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who tried on Thursday to blame Democrats for any possible shutdown, on Friday morning got in front of the cameras and vowed there will be no negotiations with Democrats.

After denouncing Senate Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with some colorful language, Rep. Luna declared, “there’ll be no deals with the Democrats,” and “we’re not cutting deals with Democrats.”

READ MORE: Trump Orders Senate GOP to Not ‘Fast-Track’ Confirmations — Will Some Nominees Change?

U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), responding to Rep. Luna’s remarks, exclaimed: “So bipartisan means… 2 parties worked together. Unilaterally a bipartisan deal was scrapped, but Nevermind.” She added: “THEY said they weren’t working with us.”

U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, the House Democratic Minority Whip, declared: “We’re 15 hours away from a government shutdown that would devastate everyday Americans. Troops will be forced to serve without pay. Families will be stripped of food assistance. Travelers will face disruptions — right before the holidays. This is not a game, @HouseGOP.” 

Aaron Fritschner, Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), warned, “Republicans are mathematically and procedurally incapable of funding the government on their own without Democratic votes. This was true when they took the majority and will be true next year. When they refuse to deal with us, they are posturing and messaging, not legislating.”

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) excoriated House Republicans for refusing to negotiate with Democrats: “Democrats control the White House and Senate. You’re just for a shutdown if your position is that you won’t negotiate. They are getting ready to cut off pay for our troops at Christmas. Just sick.”

Watch Rep. Moskowitz’s remarks below or at this link.

RELATED: Trump Threatens Shutdown, Says Biden Will Be Blamed

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.