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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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October 12th,
2007 - Blackwater Faces War Crimes Inquiry after Killings in Iraq |
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Blackwater Faces War Crimes Inquiry
after Killings in Iraq By Anne Penketh The Independent October 12, 2007 The American firm Blackwater
USA has been served notice that it faces investigations for war crimes after
17 unarmed Iraqi civilians were killed in a hail of bullets by its security
guards in Baghdad. The killings last month put
the spotlight on the private security firms whose employees are immune from
prosecution, unlike professional soldiers who are subject to courts martial.
In the second such incident in less than a month, involving the Australian
contractor Unity Resources Group this week, two Armenian Christian women were
shot dead after their car approached a protected convoy. Their car was
riddled with 40 bullets. Ivana Vuco, the most senior
UN human rights officer in Iraq, spoke yesterday about the shootings by
private security guards, which have provoked outrage among Iraqis. "For
us, it's a human rights issue," she said. "We will monitor the
allegations of killings by security contractors and look into whether or not
crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed." An Iraqi who was wounded in
the 16 September shooting, and the relatives of three people killed in the
attack, filed a court case in Washington yesterday accusing Blackwater of
violating American law by committing "extrajudicial killings and war crimes." Iraq says there are more
than 180 mainly US and European security companies in the country, with
estimates of the number of American contractors running at 100,000. Many
Iraqis see the firms as little more than trigger-happy private armies, and
the latest incidents have strained relations between Iraq and the US, which
has ordered a full security review. Iraqi authorities have
accused Blackwater of the "deliberate murder" of Iraqi civilians in
the shooting in a crowded city square, and are demanding millions of dollars
in compensation and the removal of the company from the country within six
months. The security firm says its guards returned fire at threatening
targets and responded lawfully to a threat against a convoy it was guarding. Ms Vuco said human rights
laws applied equally to contractors and other parties in a conflict. "We
will be stressing that in our communications with US authorities. This
includes the responsibility to investigate, supervise and prosecute those
accused of wrongdoing," she said at the launch in Baghdad of the latest
UN human rights report, covering the period from April to June. It described
the human rights situation in Iraq as "very grim". Said Arikat, the UN mission
spokesman, urged the Bush administration to hold accountable those involved
in indiscriminate shooting; "to apply the rules of engagement and
prosecute them". He added: "There cannot be rogue elements that are
above the law. Definitely, we will be driving that point home time and
again." In the most recent shooting,
on Tuesday, a woman taxi driver, Marany Awanees, and her front-seat passenger
were killed. Unity Resources Group said its guards feared a suicide attack
and fired only after issuing several warnings. The guards were protecting
financial and policy experts working under contract for the US Agency for
International Development. Private security firms
benefit from immunity under a 2004 law promulgated by the Coalition
Provisional Authority. External link: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article3052374.ece Baghdad shooting victims sue
Blackwater in U.S. By Randall Mikkelsen Reuters October 12, 2007 Washington - An injured
survivor and relatives of three Iraqis killed in Baghdad on Sept. 16 when
employees of private security company Blackwater USA opened fire on civilians
sued the firm in U.S. court on Thursday. The Center for
Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy group, said it filed the suit
charging that Blackwater and its affiliates violated U.S. law in committing
"extrajudicial killings and war crimes." The killing of 17 Iraqis in
the Baghdad incident created tensions between the Iraqi government and
Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who
are immune from prosecution in Iraq. The suit charges that
Blackwater "created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its
employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at
the expense of innocent human life." The suit was filed in the
names of Talib Mutlaq Deewan, injured in the incident, and the estates of
Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbass and Oday Ismail Ibraheem. It seeks
unspecified compensatory damages for death, physical, mental and economic
injuries, and punitive damages. Those bringing the suit also
want to compel the testimony of Blackwater founder and ex-Navy SEAL Erik Prince,
who told Congress last week that his staff had acted appropriately in the
incident and had returned fire at threatening targets. "We look forward to
forcing Blackwater and Mr. Prince to tell the world under oath why this
attack happened," said Susan Burke, an attorney representing the suing
Iraqis. The Iraqi government has
accused Blackwater of deliberately killing the 17. A government source has
said Baghdad wants Blackwater to pay $8 million in compensation to each
victim's family. There are at least three
investigations into the Sept. 16 Blackwater incident, which occurred while
the contractor was conducting a convoy through Baghdad. Blackwater has received U.S.
government contracts worth more than $1 billion since 2001. It is under
intense scrutiny for its security work in Iraq, where the firm has about
1,000 personnel to protect the U.S. mission and its diplomats from attack. Attempts to reach Blackwater
on Thursday for comment on the lawsuit were not immediately successful. External link: http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN11355175 |