Blackwater Baghdad shootings
Encyclopedia
On September 16, 2007, Blackwater
military contractors allegedly shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad
. The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Personal Security Detail (PSD) was clearing the way for a convoy of US State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development
officials. On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges because the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.
The next day, Blackwater Worldwide
's license to operate in Iraq
was temporarily revoked. The US State Department has said that "innocent life was lost" while US military reports indicate Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and may have used excessive force. The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater after an Iraqi inquiry found that the guards were "not touched even by a stone" when they opened fire on the civilians. The incident sparked at least five investigations, including a Federal Bureau of Investigation
probe that found almost all of the shootings "were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq." All charges against the contractors were dismissed.
On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press
reported that the FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. Shootings in the square were not uncommon, making it unclear whether shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents.
An Iraqi investigation into the events stated that as the convoy drew close to Nisoor Square, a distant Kia sedan with a woman and her grown son in it was driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy. The report said the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. After this, the report said that stun grenades were fired off by contractors to clear the scene. The report continues by saying Iraqi police
and Iraqi Army
soldiers, mistaking the stun grenades for fragmentation grenade
s, opened fire at the Blackwater team, to which the Blackwater team responded. A Reuters
report showed some of the vehicles which were left at the scene. According to Iraqi investigators, a Blackwater helicopter present during the attack fired several times from the air. Blackwater has denied these charges.
Iraqi Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf has stated the US firm "opened fire randomly at citizens." Among those killed was one Iraqi policeman; no US State Department officials were wounded or killed.
Blackwater has stated that a car bomb
detonated close to the meeting point and that their security team then evacuated the State Department officials. Blackwater says the convoy passed through Nisour Square, between the Sunni-controlled al-Mansour
and al-Yarmukh neighborhood
s, and was attacked. According to Blackwater vice-president Marty Strong, it was hit with "a large explosive device" and "repeated small arms fire" which disabled a vehicle. Several sources have stated that the explosion was caused by a mortar round, though this is not reflected in the Department of State incident report. Blackwater has denied Iraqi allegations that one of their helicopters fired from the air during the incident.
A State Department report states that eight to ten attackers opened fire "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms." The report says that as the convoy tried to leave, its route was blocked by insurgents armed with machine gun
s at 12:08 pm. According to another US government report, "The team returned fire to several identified targets" before leaving the area and a second convoy en route to help was "blocked/surrounded by several Iraqi police and Iraqi national guard vehicles and armed personnel." A US Army convoy, possibly the same one delayed by Iraqi forces, arrived approximately a half hour later, backed by air cover, to escort the convoy back to the Green Zone
.
On September 27, the New York Times reported that during the chaotic incident at Nisour Square, one member of the Blackwater security team continued to fire on civilians, despite urgent cease-fire calls from colleagues. It is unclear whether the team-member mistook the civilians for insurgents. The incident was resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop.
passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts. The U.S. Senate will reportedly consider similar legislation.
The Private Security Company Association of Iraq
, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one. Blackwater's operations on behalf of the US Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by this claimed license revocation. Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent.
On September 19, the United States temporarily suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone as a result of public outrage over the killing of civilians by Blackwater employees. The order confines most Americans to a 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²) area in the center of the city so that they are unable to visit other areas without travelling in a helicopter. The order did not say when the suspension would expire. On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day.
Blackwater, which had been operating in Iraq without an Iraqi government license, applied for one for the first time, but the request was denied by Iraqi officials in January 2009. The Iraqi government announced that Blackwater must leave Iraq as soon as a joint Iraqi-US committee finishes drafting the new guidelines on private contractors under the current Iraqi-US security agreement. Umm Tahsin, widow of one of the men killed by Blackwater employees in the Nisour Square shooting, said of the denial, "Those people are a group of criminals. What they did was a massacre. Pushing them out is the best solution. They destroyed our family." On January 31, 2009 the US State Department notified Blackwater that the agency would not renew its security contract with the company.
promised a "fair and transparent" investigation into the incident. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the use of private security contractors as a broader issue. The committee was co-chaired by Abd al Qadir
, the Iraqi Minister of Defense and Patricia A. Butenis
, the Chargé d'affaires
of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held hearings on the use of Private Security Contractors in February 2007 said his committee would hold hearings "to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests." Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors."
On October 4, 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation
announced that it would be taking the lead in the investigation of the shooting incident.
reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident.
On October 2, 2007 the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards have used deadly force weekly in Iraq and have inflicted "significant casualties and property damage." The report found that the guards fired their weapons an average of 1.4 times a week. The report further said that Blackwater reports that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases.
On October 4, 2007 U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report.
On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported it had found at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis killed to have been without cause. The three possibly justifiable killings involved the two passengers of a white Kia sedan which rolled toward the convoy, as well as an unidentified Iraqi nearby. Much of the blame for the unjustified casualties has been put on "turret gunner no. 3", Paul Slough, 29, of Keller, Texas, who fired a large number of rounds during the event. Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, responded to the findings saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators."
On January 19, 2008, the New York Times reported that the contractor responsible for many of the deaths in the engagement, previously known as "turret gunner no. 3", is named Paul Slough. He enlisted in 1999, and as part of the 3rd Infantry Division, he served in Bosnia
. He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard
. He performed one tour in Iraq before being hired as a Personal Security Specialist in Iraq. Nothing in the New York Times report suggested a history of irresponsible or "cowboy-like" decisions.
On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards.
On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony on what allegedly transpired. Prince strongly disputes how federal authorities handled the investigation as well as the claims that U.S. or Blackwater personnel were to blame for the shootings. During a seven-hour testimony, Prince noted that, "It seems the ballistics analysis was done to prove the guilt of the Americans, not to just try to identify what happened there." Erik Prince said during the seven-hour testimony that he didn't believe the FBI fully investigated the sources of all the used bullets in Nisoor Square, arguing that it would have been helpful for the defense to have a complete ballistics report. FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents.
released a two year study that stated, that although hired as "security guards", private contractors were performing military duties. The report found that the use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under International law
; however the United States is not a signatory to the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention
banning the use of mercenaries. Nor is the US a signatory to the 1977 additional Protocol
to the 1949 Geneva Conventions
in which also under Article 47 specifies that mercenaries are civilians who "take a direct part in the hostilities" (no distinction is made under the Protocol between defensive and offensive actions, but the U.S. does make such a distinction, considering defensive actions by security guards not to be combat) and are "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain."
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight.
On October 4, 2007 the US House
passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act
and thus prosecution by U.S. courts. Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to send similar legislation as soon as possible.
On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges because the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.
filed suit against Blackwater USA under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraq
i and the families of three of the seventeen Iraqis who were killed by Blackwater employees during a September 16, 2007 shooting incident.
The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against the corporation, however in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five of the Blackwater employees, and ordered them to surrender themselves to the FBI. Charged with manslaughter are 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; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee
, and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas
. A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting.
The trial was set for early 2010, but the charges were dismissed by District Judge Ricardo Urbina. The disputed evidence concerned statements the guards were compelled to give to state department investigators: As these statements would have been self-incriminating, they were therefore protected under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
. "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", the BBC report explained.
On 22 April 2011 a federal appeals-court panel revived the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Blackwater Worldwide guards accused.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found "systemic" errors in a district court's 2009 decision to dismiss charges that five former Blackwater guards killed the civilians by recklessly shooting in a Baghdad traffic circle.
The district court found that the government mishandled the case by using tainted statements the guards provided in the initial investigation.
Blackwater Security Consulting
Blackwater Security Consulting was formed in 2001, and based in Moyock, North Carolina. The company is one of the private security firms employed during the Iraq War to guard officials and installations, train Iraq's new Army and Police, and provide other support for Coalition Forces. The...
military contractors allegedly shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. The fatalities occurred while a Blackwater Personal Security Detail (PSD) was clearing the way for a convoy of US State Department vehicles en route to a meeting in western Baghdad with United States Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
officials. On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges because the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.
The next day, Blackwater Worldwide
Blackwater Worldwide
Xe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
's license to operate in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
was temporarily revoked. The US State Department has said that "innocent life was lost" while US military reports indicate Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and may have used excessive force. The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater after an Iraqi inquiry found that the guards were "not touched even by a stone" when they opened fire on the civilians. The incident sparked at least five investigations, including a Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
probe that found almost all of the shootings "were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq." All charges against the contractors were dismissed.
On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported that the FBI scientists were unable to match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. Shootings in the square were not uncommon, making it unclear whether shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents.
Incident
Iraqi Police
The Iraqi Police Service are the uniformed Territorial police force responsible for the enforcement of civil law within Iraq.The current organisation, structure and recruitment practice was guided by the Coalition Provisional Authority following the 2003 invasion of Iraq...
and Iraqi Army
Iraqi Army
The Iraqi Army is the land component of the Iraqi military, active in various forms since being formed by the British during their mandate over the country after World War I....
soldiers, mistaking the stun grenades for fragmentation grenade
Fragmentation grenade
A fragmentation grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that is designed to disperse shrapnel upon exploding. The body is made of hard plastic or steel. Flechettes, notched wire, ball bearings or the case itself provide the fragments...
s, opened fire at the Blackwater team, to which the Blackwater team responded. A Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
report showed some of the vehicles which were left at the scene. According to Iraqi investigators, a Blackwater helicopter present during the attack fired several times from the air. Blackwater has denied these charges.
Iraqi Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf has stated the US firm "opened fire randomly at citizens." Among those killed was one Iraqi policeman; no US State Department officials were wounded or killed.
Blackwater has stated that a car bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
detonated close to the meeting point and that their security team then evacuated the State Department officials. Blackwater says the convoy passed through Nisour Square, between the Sunni-controlled al-Mansour
Mansour district
Al Mansour district is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad, Iraq. It is named after Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, the second Abbasid Caliph and founder of Baghdad....
and al-Yarmukh neighborhood
Yarmouk (Baghdad)
Yarmouk is an upmarket neighborhood located within Mansour district in Baghdad, Iraq. It is adjacent to Baghdad Airport Road. Is was once home to members of high-ranking officials from Saddam Hussein's regime. Yarmouk is considered a mirror image of east Baghdad's Shiite- dominated Sadr City i.e...
s, and was attacked. According to Blackwater vice-president Marty Strong, it was hit with "a large explosive device" and "repeated small arms fire" which disabled a vehicle. Several sources have stated that the explosion was caused by a mortar round, though this is not reflected in the Department of State incident report. Blackwater has denied Iraqi allegations that one of their helicopters fired from the air during the incident.
A State Department report states that eight to ten attackers opened fire "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms." The report says that as the convoy tried to leave, its route was blocked by insurgents armed with machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s at 12:08 pm. According to another US government report, "The team returned fire to several identified targets" before leaving the area and a second convoy en route to help was "blocked/surrounded by several Iraqi police and Iraqi national guard vehicles and armed personnel." A US Army convoy, possibly the same one delayed by Iraqi forces, arrived approximately a half hour later, backed by air cover, to escort the convoy back to the Green Zone
Green Zone
The Green Zone is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It is a area of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental center of the Coalition Provisional Authority and remains the center of the international presence in the city...
.
On September 27, the New York Times reported that during the chaotic incident at Nisour Square, one member of the Blackwater security team continued to fire on civilians, despite urgent cease-fire calls from colleagues. It is unclear whether the team-member mistook the civilians for insurgents. The incident was resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop.
Impact
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Blackwater's rights to conduct work in Iraq were temporarily suspended. Several Iraqi and American investigations have or are being conducted in to the incident. The incident has caused Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater USA, and for the Iraqi government to push for an apology, compensation for victims or their families and for the guards involved in the shooting to be held "accountable." The US HouseUnited States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to prosecution by U.S. courts. The U.S. Senate will reportedly consider similar legislation.
License to operate in Iraq
On September 18, 2007, Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman, said Blackwater is "not allowed to operate anywhere in the Republic of Iraq." Spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent. The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US governments' reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq.The Private Security Company Association of Iraq
Private Security Company Association of Iraq
The Private Security Company Association of Iraq is a not-for-profit organization formed and maintained to discuss and address matters of mutual interest and concern to the industry conducting private security functions in Iraq...
, in a document last updated on July 3, 2007, listed Blackwater as not having a license to operate in Iraq despite their attempts to apply for one. Blackwater's operations on behalf of the US Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by this claimed license revocation. Also, it is not clear whether the license revocation is permanent.
On September 19, the United States temporarily suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone as a result of public outrage over the killing of civilians by Blackwater employees. The order confines most Americans to a 3.5 square miles (9.1 km²) area in the center of the city so that they are unable to visit other areas without travelling in a helicopter. The order did not say when the suspension would expire. On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day.
Blackwater, which had been operating in Iraq without an Iraqi government license, applied for one for the first time, but the request was denied by Iraqi officials in January 2009. The Iraqi government announced that Blackwater must leave Iraq as soon as a joint Iraqi-US committee finishes drafting the new guidelines on private contractors under the current Iraqi-US security agreement. Umm Tahsin, widow of one of the men killed by Blackwater employees in the Nisour Square shooting, said of the denial, "Those people are a group of criminals. What they did was a massacre. Pushing them out is the best solution. They destroyed our family." On January 31, 2009 the US State Department notified Blackwater that the agency would not renew its security contract with the company.
Investigations
The U.S. State Department said it planned to investigate what it called a "terrible incident." According to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Secretary of State Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
promised a "fair and transparent" investigation into the incident. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the use of private security contractors as a broader issue. The committee was co-chaired by Abd al Qadir
Qadir Obeidi
Lt. Gen. Abdul Qadir Mohammed Jassim Obeidi al-Mifarji was the Defence Minister of Iraq in the Council of Ministers of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from 2006 to 2010...
, the Iraqi Minister of Defense and Patricia A. Butenis
Patricia A. Butenis
Patricia A. Butenis is a diplomat. Since 2009, she is the United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the United States Ambassador to the Maldives.-Early life and education:...
, the Chargé d'affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq.
Henry Waxman, the chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which held hearings on the use of Private Security Contractors in February 2007 said his committee would hold hearings "to understand what has happened and the extent of the damage to U.S. security interests." Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors."
On October 4, 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
announced that it would be taking the lead in the investigation of the shooting incident.
Findings
On September 22, 2007 Iraqi investigators announced that they have a videotape that shows Blackwater USA contractors opening fire against civilians without provocation. Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. "The murder of citizens in cold blood in al-Nissour area by the Blackwater is considered a terrorist action against the civilians just like any other terrorist operations", a preliminary report of the findings says. Khalaf said the report had been "sent to the judiciary." Under Iraqi law, an investigating judge decides whether there is enough evidence for a trial. Khalaf also said the ministry was looking into six other fatal shootings involving Blackwater. US MilitaryMilitary of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident.
On October 2, 2007 the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee released a report stating that Blackwater USA guards have used deadly force weekly in Iraq and have inflicted "significant casualties and property damage." The report found that the guards fired their weapons an average of 1.4 times a week. The report further said that Blackwater reports that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases.
On October 4, 2007 U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. "It was obviously excessive", a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Washington Post. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. And none of the IP (Iraqi police) or any of the local security forces fired back at them", the official continued. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report.
On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported it had found at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis killed to have been without cause. The three possibly justifiable killings involved the two passengers of a white Kia sedan which rolled toward the convoy, as well as an unidentified Iraqi nearby. Much of the blame for the unjustified casualties has been put on "turret gunner no. 3", Paul Slough, 29, of Keller, Texas, who fired a large number of rounds during the event. Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, responded to the findings saying Blackwater "supports the stringent accountability of the industry. If it is determined that one person was complicit in the wrongdoing, we would support accountability in that. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators."
On January 19, 2008, the New York Times reported that the contractor responsible for many of the deaths in the engagement, previously known as "turret gunner no. 3", is named Paul Slough. He enlisted in 1999, and as part of the 3rd Infantry Division, he served in Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
. He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard
Texas National Guard
The Texas National Guard consists of the Texas Army National Guard and the Texas Air National Guard. The Guard is administered by the adjutant general, an appointee of the governor of Texas. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal and state...
. He performed one tour in Iraq before being hired as a Personal Security Specialist in Iraq. Nothing in the New York Times report suggested a history of irresponsible or "cowboy-like" decisions.
On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards.
On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony on what allegedly transpired. Prince strongly disputes how federal authorities handled the investigation as well as the claims that U.S. or Blackwater personnel were to blame for the shootings. During a seven-hour testimony, Prince noted that, "It seems the ballistics analysis was done to prove the guilt of the Americans, not to just try to identify what happened there." Erik Prince said during the seven-hour testimony that he didn't believe the FBI fully investigated the sources of all the used bullets in Nisoor Square, arguing that it would have been helpful for the defense to have a complete ballistics report. FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents.
UN October 2007 report
In October 2007 the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
released a two year study that stated, that although hired as "security guards", private contractors were performing military duties. The report found that the use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under International law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
; however the United States is not a signatory to the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention
UN Mercenary Convention
At the 72nd plenary meeting on 4 December 1989 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 44/34, the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries...
banning the use of mercenaries. Nor is the US a signatory to the 1977 additional Protocol
Protocol I
Protocol I is a 1977 amendment protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts. It reaffirms the international laws of the original Geneva Conventions of 1949, but adds clarifications and new provisions to accommodate developments in modern...
to the 1949 Geneva Conventions
Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of the victims of war...
in which also under Article 47 specifies that mercenaries are civilians who "take a direct part in the hostilities" (no distinction is made under the Protocol between defensive and offensive actions, but the U.S. does make such a distinction, considering defensive actions by security guards not to be combat) and are "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain."
Iraqi reaction
Unlike many deaths blamed on foreign contractors, this shooting took place in downtown Baghdad, an area with dozens of witnesses. "We see the security firms ... doing whatever they want in the streets. They beat citizens and scorn them", Baghdad resident Halim Mashkoor told AP Television News. He asked, "if such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it?" Hasan Jaber Salman, one of the wounded and an Iraqi lawyer, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind" An Iraqi police officer who was directing traffic at the scene said Blackwater guards "became the terrorists" when they opened fire on civilians unprovoked, while a businessman said he wasn't seeking compensation but only "the truth" from the guards. After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8 million in compensation.Reaction from the Arab World
A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. Algerian newspaper Le Quotidien d'Oran said the ruling was one of "stunning violence" and compared the American security firm to terrorists.Punishment of contractors
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. "The murder of citizens in cold blood in al-Nissour area by the Blackwater is considered a terrorist action against the civilians just like any other terrorist operations", a preliminary report of the findings says. A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. 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."US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight.
On October 4, 2007 the US House
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act
and thus prosecution by U.S. courts. Senate Democratic leaders have said they plan to send similar legislation as soon as possible.
On December 31, 2009, a U.S. district judge dismissed all the manslaughter charges because the case against the Blackwater guards had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity.
Further court action
On October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional RightsCenter for Constitutional Rights
Al Odah v. United States:Al Odah is the latest in a series of habeas corpus petitions on behalf of people imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The case challenges the Military Commissions system’s suitability as a habeas corpus substitute and the legality, in general, of detention at...
filed suit against Blackwater USA under the Alien Tort Claims Act on behalf of an injured Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i and the families of three of the seventeen Iraqis who were killed by Blackwater employees during a September 16, 2007 shooting incident.
The Justice Department was originally not expected to bring criminal charges against the corporation, however in December 2008, the Justice Department announced they were charging five of the Blackwater employees, and ordered them to surrender themselves to the FBI. Charged with manslaughter are Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, New Hampshire; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tennessee
Sparta, Tennessee
Sparta is a city in White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,599 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of White County. It was the hometown of Lester Flatt of the bluegrass music legends Flatt and Scruggs.-Geography:...
, and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas
Keller, Texas
Keller is a city located in Tarrant County, Texas, in the United States. In 2011, it was ranked 93rd in Money Magazine's list of best cities to live in the United States. It is a northern suburb of the city of Fort Worth and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex...
. A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors, turned on his former colleagues, and pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting.
The trial was set for early 2010, but the charges were dismissed by District Judge Ricardo Urbina. The disputed evidence concerned statements the guards were compelled to give to state department investigators: As these statements would have been self-incriminating, they were therefore protected under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
. "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", the BBC report explained.
On 22 April 2011 a federal appeals-court panel revived the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Blackwater Worldwide guards accused.
A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found "systemic" errors in a district court's 2009 decision to dismiss charges that five former Blackwater guards killed the civilians by recklessly shooting in a Baghdad traffic circle.
The district court found that the government mishandled the case by using tainted statements the guards provided in the initial investigation.
See also
- Blackwater WorldwideBlackwater WorldwideXe Services LLC, better known by its former names, Blackwater USA and Blackwater Worldwide, is a private military company founded in 1997 by Erik Prince and Al Clark.. Xe is currently the largest of the U.S. State Department's three private security contractors...
- Human rights in occupied Iraq
- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary ArmyBlackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary ArmyBlackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army is a book written by independent journalist Jeremy Scahill, published by Nation Books in 2007, as a history and analysis of Blackwater USA, now Xe Services...
- Shadow CompanyShadow CompanyShadow Company is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque and narrated by Gerard Butler. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing in recent conflicts...
- Blackwater WatchBlackwater WatchBlackwater Watch is a non-profit, non-governmental watchdog organization derived from North Carolina Stop Torture Now in 2007 to monitor Blackwater Worldwide, plus private armies and mercenaries with respect to human rights, legal immunity, cronyism, war profiteering, lobbying, war, and...
Other links
- Blackwater Watch: Keeping an eye on Blackwater USA
- Blackwater Watch: Seeks a ban on mercenaries and private military armies
- Blackwater Facts: A news site dedicated to covering Blackwater
- The Blackwater Killings in Baghdad - A Document Archive
- Human Rights First; Private Security Contractors at War: Ending the Culture of Impunity (2008)