Daily Archives: August 4, 2015

State/OIG Report on ECA Program – Whew! What a relief that this is so boring to everyone!

August 4, 2015 By in Govt Documents, Hillary Clinton, Political Appointees, Secretary of State, Staffing the FS, State Department Tags: , , , , , , ,

Posted: 4:08  am EDT
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On October 24, 2009, the AP reported the following:

The State Department’s internal watchdog concludes in a new report that the nation’s student foreign exchange programs need better federal oversight, after a scandal in which students were placed in shoddy homes in Pennsylvania.

The State Department’s acting inspector general, Harold W. Geisel, said in the report that the department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs had largely abdicated its responsibility to ensure the well-being of thousands of exchange students who come to the United States each year.

The day before, the acting State/ECA boss wrote an email to Cheryl Mills on the IG report press coverage:

Via foia.state.gov

 

Screen Shot 2015-08-04

Email in pdf here.

Maura Pally is the the Senior Vice President, Women and Youth Programs, and serves as Acting CEO a the Clinton Foundation.  Previously, she served as Acting Assistant and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Prior to joining the U.S. Department of State, she also served as deputy counsel for Secretary Clinton’s first presidential campaign.

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Reuters: State Department watered down human trafficking report

August 4, 2015 By in Congress, Controversies, Govt Documents, Political Appointees, State Department, Trafficking, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Posted: 3:45  am EDT
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In the weeks leading up to a critical annual U.S. report on human trafficking that publicly shames the world’s worst offenders, human rights experts at the State Department concluded that trafficking conditions hadn’t improved in Malaysia and Cuba. And in China, they found, things had grown worse.

The State Department’s senior political staff saw it differently — and they prevailed.

A Reuters examination, based on interviews with more than a dozen sources in Washington and foreign capitals, shows that the government office set up to independently grade global efforts to fight human trafficking was repeatedly overruled by senior American diplomats and pressured into inflating assessments of 14 strategically important countries in this year’s Trafficking in Persons report.

In all, analysts in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons – or J/TIP, as it’s known within the U.S. government — disagreed with U.S. diplomatic bureaus on ratings for 17 countries, the sources said.

The analysts, who are specialists in assessing efforts to combat modern slavery – such as the illegal trade in humans for forced labor or prostitution – won only three of those disputes, the worst ratio in the 15-year history of the unit, according to the sources.

As a result, not only Malaysia, Cuba and China, but countries such as India, Uzbekistan and Mexico, wound up with better grades than the State Department’s human-rights experts wanted to give them, the sources said. (Graphic looking at some of the key decisions here: reut.rs/1gF2Wz5)
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The final decision on disputed rankings this year was made in meetings attended by some of the State Department’s most powerful diplomats, including Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Kerry’s Chief of Staff, Jonathan Finer, according to the sources.

Read in full here.

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Related item:

-07/27/15  Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall on the 2015 Trafficking in Persons Report;  Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall; Washington, DC

State Dept Honors Six Security Contractors Killed in 2014 Camp Gibson-Kabul Suicide Attack

August 4, 2015 By in Contractors, Memorial, Security, State Department, US Embassy Kabul, War Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted: 3:11  am EDT
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On August 3, the State Department held a ceremony honoring six security personnel who were killed while working for DynCorp International on behalf of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in Afghanistan.

All six honorees were security guards at Camp Gibson in Kabul and were killed on July 22, 2014, when a suicide bomber riding a motorcycle attacked the camp.  They hailed from four different countries – Fiji, India, Kenya, and Nepal.  Deputy Secretary Heather Higginbottom and INL Assistant Secretary William R. Brownfield will pay tribute to our fallen colleagues by laying a wreath at the INL Memorial Wall located within the State Department building at its 21st Street Entrance.

There are 93 names on the wall commemorating the individuals from 12 countries and the United States who lost their lives between 1989 and 2014 while supporting the Department’s criminal justice assistance programs abroad.  These individuals collaborated with host governments and civil society in challenging environments to enhance respect for rule of law around the world.  The Department is proud to recognize their service and sacrifice to our nation.

A virtual INL Memorial Wall is available at http://www.state.gov/j/inl/inlvirtualwall to pay tribute to the 93 honorees and their families.

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The State Department announcement does not include the names of those honored at the INL ceremony. The New Indian Express identified the two Indian nationals as P V Kuttappan and Raveendran Parambath, as well as the two Nepali security guards as Ganga Limbu and Anil Gurung.  The security guards from Fiji and Kenya were not identified.

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