Commissioners Inquire of
Administration Efforts to Combat
Prostitution, Human Trafficking in
Post-Conflict Iraq
May 13, 2003
Eight Members of the United States Helsinki Commission have written to Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage
requesting information about State Department efforts to ensure that U.S. contractors do not participate in prostitution
or human trafficking-related activities in Iraq or elsewhere, citing similar problems in the OSCE region.
The letter inquires about the Administration’s efforts to fight the emergence of prostitution and human trafficking
industries in post-conflict Iraq spurred by an influx of international personnel from the United States and other
countries.
Signing the May 2 letter were Helsinki Commission Co-Chairmen Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-CO) and Rep.
Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Ranking Member Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), Commissioners Senator Russell D. Feingold
(D-WI), Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA) and Rep.
Robert B. Aderholt (R-AL).
“The need for a strategy to prevent the emergence of prostitution and human trafficking in post-conflict Iraq is
manifested by the experiences in post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo,” the Commissioners wrote. “In both areas,
prostitution and human trafficking were allowed to develop and thrive due to the arrival of large numbers of
multi-national personnel involved in post-conflict reconstruction and peacekeeping.”
“The United States and the international community failed to address these issues at the outset in Bosnia-Herzegovina
and Kosovo and, as a result, today continues to struggle against the organized crime elements that control these
industries,” the Commissioners added. “Such a scenario must not be allowed to develop in Iraq. Please provide us with
information regarding the steps being taken to ensure that prostitution and sex trafficking industries will not develop
in Iraq in response to an influx of international civilian and military personnel from the United States and other
countries.”
The full text of the letter is available on the Helsinki Commission’s Internet web site at www.csce.gov.
The United States Helsinki Commission, an independent federal agency, by law monitors and encourages progress in
implementing provisions of the Helsinki Accords. The Commission, created in 1976, is composed of nine Senators, nine
Representatives and one official each from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce.
– 30 –
234 Ford House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-6460
Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Co-Chairman
Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman
For Immediate Release
www.csce.gov
Media Contact: Ben Anderson
202.225.1901