To: The Honorable John McHugh, Secretary of the Army
Stop U.S. Support for Human Trafficking
Please expand upon the Pentagon's current efforts to protect Third-Country Nationals from human trafficking and other abuses by U.S. defense subcontractors by:
1. Establishing an accessible, trustworthy official at each U.S. base to whom Third Country Nationals can report human trafficking violations.
2. More thoroughly investigating the human rights records of subcontractors.
Why is this important?
Since 2006, the Pentagon has been taking steps to prevent subcontractors in Iraq from taking unfair advantage of the labor of Third-Country Nationals. Yet despite new regulations, many of these vulnerable workers continue to be exposed to poor working conditions and, in some cases, human trafficking. Please ask the Department of Defense to more closely monitor its subcontractors to prevent the mistreatment of Third-Country Nationals from going unnoticed and unresolved.