The risk is now that the U.S., who has a presence worldwide, has exposure for how they might be treated or what people of other countries might think could happen or would happen if war crimes are committed by U.S. citizens abroad. Mohammed and his sister screamed for their children to get down. In addition to the Kinani family, I represented five other families and victims. Blackwater and the Corporate Mercenaries who've - NationofChange "I am overwhelmed with emotion at this fantastic news.". He had tried to run but was lying in a pool of blood killed by machine gunfire from the armored cars. Further, besides advising and assisting the UAEs petro-monarchy in strengthening the police state, Erik Prince alsoreportedly provided[3] weapons and modified aircraft to eastern Libyas warlord and former CIA asset Khalifa Haftar, backed by Egypt and UAE, in his thwarted military campaign against the Tripoli government lasting from April 2019 to June 2020. Hassan Salman is among the Iraqis who were shot during the ambush. He was shot through the roof of his car as the Blackwater convoy drove past firing down into traffic. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. [6][85][86] Jurors sided with prosecutors' contention that the shooting was a criminal act, not a battlefield encounter gone wrong. Defense lawyers for the four veterans, who were working as contractors for the State Department at the time of the killings, argued that they had returned fire only after being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents. Mohammed quickly got out of the car and saw blood inside the rear window. "This was the slaughter of innocent civilians who were merely going about their day when a Blackwater convoy rolled through a traffic circle after having violated orders to stand down and not exit the Green Zone and began firing indiscriminately into cars that were carrying people going to work.". Justice Blackwater mercenary sentenced to life in prison On Wednesday, Slatten was sentenced to life in federal prison for initiating a massacre that left 14 Iraqi civilians dead. [68][69], On September 24, 2007, the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced it would file criminal charges against the Blackwater staff involved in the shooting, although it is unclear how some of them will be brought to trial. Dickinson says that the victims' families are likely to feel let down and abandoned by the U.S. government. Ali was the youngest of Blackwaters victims that day. More were arriving in the backs of trucks. [19] A Blackwater spokeswoman responded to the findings by saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. [84], The other four went on trial starting on June 17, 2014;[5] ten weeks of testimony and 28 days of jury deliberations resulted in convictions for all four men on October 22, 2014. [46] On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day. (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. Defence lawyers argued their clients returned fire after being ambushed by Iraqi insurgents. But supporters of the military contractors, who argued the investigation was tainted and the punishments too severe, cheered the news. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. "How are these criminals released after they killed 17 innocent people?" "On what basis did Trump depend on to release them? Only. Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard were convicted six years ago in the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians and the wounding of 17 others. [28] TST 22 arrived at Nisour Square after Raven 23 had left; when TST 22 tried to withdraw, its route was blocked by Iraqi Army and Police vehicles. The security industry has evolved drastically since those events, and under the direction of new ownership and leadership, Academi has invested heavily in compliance and ethics programmes, training for our employees, and preventative measures to strictly comply with all US and local government laws.. The Beginning Blackwater USA began in 1997 by Al Clark and Erik Prince. [101][102] The Iraqi Foreign Ministry urged the United States to reconsider, declaring the pardons "did not take into account the seriousness of the crime committed".[103]. [32] In response to the guards' killing of the Iraqi policeman, other Iraqi police officers began to fire at the Blackwater men, who communicated to the State Department operations center that they were under attack. Private Military Companies: Blackwater - Silent Professionals Baghdad massacre: US court finds ex-Blackwater mercenary guilty of Notorious mercenaries convicted of massacre in Iraq pardoned by Trump The efforts of the investigators, the prosecutors, and the men and women who supported them was immeasurable. Mohammed could see other cars being shot. RT has asked experts to share their thoughts on what the incident meant for Washington's Middle East policy and the likelihood of another tragedy like this. Rather than mitigating the suffering of Ukraines disenfranchised masses held hostage by the Zelensky regime, the self-styled champions of human rights are doing all they can to lure Russia into their bear trap project, a term borrowed from the Soviet-Afghan War of the eighties when Western regimes used Pakistans security forces and generous funding from the oil-rich Gulf States for providing guerrilla warfare training and lethal weaponry to Afghan jihadists to bleed the security forces of former the Soviet Union in the protracted war. Raven 23 "returned defensive fire" and withdrew from Nisour Square with one of its BearCat vehicles in tow. They beat citizens and scorn them. [63] The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum in January 2010. Who would be responsible for the myopic and vindictive policy of providing anti-aircraft munitions to Ukraines irregular militias once Kyiv falls and those MANPADS are found in black markets posing a grave risk to civilian airlines across the globe? Bulk comes from private military companies of the Blackwater/Academi kind. USA: Four Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians Blackwater Mercenaries Filmed on a Rampage in Iraq & Shooting Civilians Blackwater and its employees had been given immunity from any criminal or civil exposure in Iraq that was part of Princes contract with the State Department. "Victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law also have the right to a remedy. [80], On April 22, 2011, after closed-door testimony, a federal appeals-court panel revived the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Blackwater Worldwide guards by reinstating the manslaughter charges against the five men. A former private military guard has been convicted of first degree murder by a court in Washington after taking part in a mass killing of unarmed civilians in Baghdad in 2007. To understand the carnage that happened on the streets that day, you need to hear it in Mohammeds words as he explained it to me. "They prefer animals over humans, and then they talk about human rights, justice and humanity," said an Iraqi man whose brother was among those killed in 2007. When the Blackwater contractors were finally convicted seven years later in 2014, that was a sign of relief, but you needed political will for that. [25][31], The account by the Blackwater firm differed from the Iraqi government's account; Blackwater's account stated the driver of the Kia sedan had kept driving toward the convoy, ignoring verbal orders, hand signals, and water bottles thrown at the car, and continued to approach even when fired upon. The order did not say when the suspension would expire. When Slattens conviction was overturned, I was concerned that the case would be ignored. Mohammed knew his sons injuries were fatal, but he had to try. Trump's pardon of mercenaries guilty of massacre in Iraq leads to Mohammed was a businessman dealing in auto salvage. [79] Three weeks later, Vice President Joe Biden, who was overseeing U.S. policy in Iraq, promised Iraqi leaders the U.S. would appeal the dismissal of these charges. Sequence of events triggering the Nisour Square massacre, Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, Private Security Company Association of Iraq, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, Inspector General of the U.S. State Department, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "U.S. That day changed my life forever. [54] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division. The man that just spoken to him was dead. I sued Blackwater, its founder Erik Prince, and the four men who were convicted of murder, manslaughter, or weapons charges in a civil lawsuit filed in North Carolina, the home of Blackwaters headquarters and training facility in Moyock. It was his business partner who lay in the pool of blood and was repeatedly shot. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. He told NPR on Wednesday that he was shocked by Trump's pardons he himself had made trips to the U.S. to give testimony in the proceedings against the four. Shots were fired everywhere. [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. Blackwater Mercenaries Filmed on a Rampage in Iraq & Shooting Civilians from WarPosting After being leaked by a former employee of the notorious PMC, the footage dated April 2006 was featured in a piece called "The Warrior Class" by Charles Glass. The Blackwater mercenaries were among the most flagrant killers in Iraq but hardly unique. Donald Trump has pardoned four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were serving jail sentences for killing 14 civilians including two children in Baghdad in 2007, a massacre that sparked an international outcry over the use of mercenaries in war. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBIs most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. About the author:Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based geopolitical and national security analyst focused on geostrategic affairs and hybrid warfare in the Af-Pak and the Middle East regions. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the broader issue of employing private security contractors. The U.S. remains one of the notable holdouts of the 2001 UN treaty known in full as the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries and it is unlikely we will ever join. Paul Dickinson[emailprotected]farrin.com. Blackwater mercenary defends role in Iraq massacre after Trump pardon Their belief in our legal system was misplaced. But he knew he was surviving as he kept yelling for the children in the back of his SUV to stay down. The bullets rained through the roofs of cars, taxis and buses, he says. He never received treatment. Opinion | Trump's Most Disgusting Pardons - The New York Times The pardons are one of several the US president has granted to American service personnel and contractors accused or convicted of crimes against non-combatants and civilians in war zones. ", Human Rights Watch says the pardons "show contempt for the rule of law.". [78] The opinion elaborated "the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants' compelled statements. Likewise, the civil case ran through North Carolina state court, was removed to federal court, and then sent back to state court. An Iraqi looks at a burned car in Nisour Square in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmukh, on Sept. 24, 2007, eight days after Blackwater guards who were escorting U.S. Embassy officials opened fire there. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. Extending the hand of friendship, Russia significantly drawdown its forces along the western border before the summit last year. US pardons Blackwater guards: An 'affront to justice' - UN experts Trump Pardons Blackwater 4 for Nisour Square Massacre in Iraq, because ", "By investigating these crimes and completing legal proceedings, the US complied with its obligations under international law," she added. [1] Russian forces seize huge Ukrainian nuclear plant, fire extinguisher: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/. [33], Three Blackwater guards who witnessed the incident later said that they believed the shootings were unjustified. Then-Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference to tell the citizens of Iraq that they would not be abandoned. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. He thought they had been given a miracle after he saw so many others killed. The aide also said that the Iraqi government was pushing for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable". It was not an easy path in either the civil or criminal legal system. ", "After years of waiting, the victims finally saw justice served when these men were convicted," she said in an email. I was thinking the same thing about the Chechens a few days ago. On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned 15 people, including Dustin Heard (from left), Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough, the four former government contractors convicted for a 2007 massacre in Baghdad that left more than a dozen Iraqi civilians dead. What takes place doesnt mention Russian soldiers but others preventing citizens from escaping. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most prominent events of the US-Iraq conflict, raising doubts about America's true intentions in the region. That notion has now been shown to be false, Dickinson says. Trump Just Pardoned Those Convicted Killers", "Pardons in killings of Iraqi civilians stir angry response", "Chief of Blackwater Defends His Employees", "Tracing the Paths of 5 Who Died in a Storm of Gunfire", "Blackwater Execs Remain Free as Guards Convicted for Killing 14 Iraqis in Massacre", Use of white phosphorus by the United States, United States and the International Criminal Court, A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, "The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time", AfghanIraqi Freedom Memorial (Salem, Oregon), The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nisour_Square_massacre&oldid=1141803510, Violent non-state actor incidents in Asia, People convicted of murder by the United States federal government, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 22:05. This is not for the faint of heart but allegedly a video from the Ukraine conflict at a check-point at Mariupol which is surrounded by Russian troops. [14] The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater. His mother also suffered a stroke, he added. Five were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and a weapons violation: Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nicholas Slatten, a former army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee, and Paul Slough, an army veteran from Keller, Texas. Six of my Blackwater brethren contractors are on the helicopter going to Tikrit. [71], In December 2008, the United States Department of Justice announced it was filing criminal charges against five of the Blackwater employees, and ordered them to surrender to the FBI. Blackwater Trial: What You Need to Know - NBC News The Associated Press contributed to this report. When #Blackwater mercenaries were murdering civilians in the #IraqWar, did these voices demand seizure of yachts owned by CEO Erik Prince? He was driving on flat tires and with a shattered windshield. He was shot through the back with a massive exit wound in his chest.
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