"Dropping the charges against those guards disrespects the lives of the innocents who were killed": Abu Uday
My Name
Mehdi Lebouachera
Iraq said on Friday it had begun taking steps to "bring
Blackwater to justice" over the deaths of 14 civilians in
2007, one of the bloodiest incidents involving a private
security firm here.
A decision Thursday by a US court to drop the charges
against five Blackwater security guards accused of the
deaths has unleashed anger in Baghdad, where a cabinet
minister expressed astonishment.
"The Iraqi government has started to take the necessary
measures to bring Blackwater to justice for the killing of
17 Iraqi citizens," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said
in a statement.
He did not details on what specific measures were being
taken but he had earlier said an Iraqi investigation had
shown that the five guards were responsible for the deaths
of the civilians.
Human Rights Minister Wejdan Mikhail told AFP she was
"astonished" by the decision to dismiss the criminal charges
against the five.
"There was so much work done to prosecute these people and
to take this case into court and I don't understand why the
judge took this decision," she said.
US federal judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges
against the five, saying prosecutors violated their rights
by using incriminating statements they had made under
immunity during a State Department probe.
The case was among the most sensational that sought to hold
Blackwater employees accountable for what was seen as a
culture of lawlessness and a lack of accountability as it
carried out its duties in Iraq.
The guards, who had been part of a convoy of armoured
vehicles, had been charged with killing 14 unarmed Iraqi
civilians and wounding 18 others during an unprovoked attack
at a busy Baghdad roundabout using guns and grenades.
But Iraq says 17 people were killed.
"One of them has said what happened in Nisur Square, how
they killed innocent Iraqi people that were just in their
cars without any weapons. I am very astonished and I am
waiting for the US embassy to give me the judge's decision
(in full)," Mikhail said.
"What happened was very bad, because so many innocent Iraqi
people -- young, students -- were shot by someone who liked
to shoot unarmed people."
Mikhail said she requested a meeting with US embassy
officials in Baghdad. The embassy did not immediately
confirm that the meeting would take place or, if it did, who
it would involve.
The judge's decision was welcomed, however, by the company's
chief executive Joseph Yorio, who said: "The company
supports the judge's decision to dismiss the charges."
"From the beginning, Xe has stood behind the hundreds of
brave men who put themselves in harm's way to protect
American diplomats working in Baghdad and other combat zones
in Iraq."
The firm renamed itself Xe after the Iraqi government banned
it last January over the killings.
Foreign security teams in Iraq long operated in a legal grey
area, but under a military accord signed with Washington
last November, Baghdad won a concession to lift the immunity
to prosecution previously extended to US security
contractors.
Ordinary Iraqis expressed anger at Urbina's ruling.
"Dropping the charges against those guards disrespects the
lives of the innocents who were killed," said Abu Uday, a
university professor who did not want to give his given
name.
"The rights of the families of the victims must be
guaranteed, those who lost their sons because of the
rashness of guards who tried to show off their abilities
with no respect for people's lives."
Blackwater ended its operations in Iraq in May, after the US
State Department refused to renew annual contracts for the
company.
Headquartered in North Carolina, Blackwater was one of the
largest security firms operating in Iraq with about 1,000
staff, and had been employed to protect US government
personnel since the 2003 invasion.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100101/twl-iraq-takes-steps-to-bring-blackwater-3cd7efd.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100101/twl-iraq-expresses-astonishment-over-bla-3cd7efd.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100101/twl-iraq-regrets-us-judge-dropping-black-3cd7efd.html
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100101/twl-judge-dismisses-charges-against-blac-3cd7efd.html
Iraq 'regrets' US court ruling on Blackwater
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:48:50 GMT
Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government's spokesman
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20100101/davari20100101193339015.jpg
The Iraqi government on Friday expressed "regret" about a US
court decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater
guards who killed 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.
US District Court Judge Ricardo Urbina acquitted five
members of Xe Services LLC, formerly known as Blackwater
Worldwide, of manslaughter charges involving the killing of
17 people in Baghdad.
Xe Services LLC is a private military company contracted by
the US Army to mainly provide security for American
officials during war time.
On September 16, 2007, Blackwater security detail was
escorting members of the US Agency for International
Development to a meeting in western Baghdad when, according
to Iraqi investigations and US military reports, they opened
fire and used excessive force on civilians in Nisour Square
without the slightest provocation.
The Iraqi government's spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, on Friday
reacted to the court ruling.
"Inquiries carried out by the Iraqi government clearly
confirm that the Blackwater (Xe) guards committed a crime
and used weapons when there was no threat necessitating the
use of force," he said.
Al-Dabbagh stated that Iraq would "act forcefully and
decisively to prosecute the Blackwater (Xe) criminals".
In defense of the ruling, the US judge said the defendants
were "compelled" to give self-incriminating statements in
response to a promise of immunity.
"The burden fell to the (US) government to prove that it
made no use whatsoever of these immunised statements," Judge
Urbina wrote in a 90-page opinion.
The commander of US forces in Iraq, General Ray Odierno,
said the court's decision could create local resentment
against other security firms operating in the country.
The ruling also "astonished" Iraqi human rights minister
Wejdan Mikhail.
"There was so much work done to prosecute these people and
to take this case into court and I don't understand why the
judge took this decision," he told AFP.
SES/MD
Related Stories:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115119§ionid=351020201
US judge lets Blackwater/Xe mercs off the hook
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:39:19 GMT
Blackwater/Xe mercenaries
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20100101/ghahri20100101031425734.JPG
A US federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against
five Blackwater/Xe security guards accused of fatally
shooting 14 people in Baghdad in September 2007.
On Thursday, Judge Ricardo Urbina said US government
prosecutors violated the defendants' rights by using
incriminating statements they had made under immunity during
a State Department probe to build their case.
"The government used the defendants' compelled statements to
guide its charging decisions, to formulate its theory of the
case, to develop investigatory leads, and ultimately to
obtain the indictment in the case," Urbina ruled.
"In short, the government had utterly failed to prove that
it made no impermissible use of the defendants' statement or
that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."
The Blackwater/Xe mercenaries had been charged with killing
14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others using gunfire and
grenades at a busy Baghdad intersection in September 2007.
They faced charges of manslaughter.
In a public relations move meant to clean up the company's
image, which was tarnished by incidents in which civilians
were killed in the Iraq war, Blackwater Worldwide rebranded
and changed its name to a futuristic new name, Xe
(pronounced like the last letter of the alphabet), in
February 2009.
However, there is still great animosity toward Blackwater/Xe
in Iraq.
Many Iraqis believe the US military allowed Blackwater/Xe
mercenaries to commit numerous war crimes against their
compatriots with impunity, and the latest court ruling will
only reinforce such sentiments.
SG/SS/HGL
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115079
US judge lets Blackwater/Xe mercs off the hook
Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:39:19 GMT
Blackwater/Xe mercenaries
http://www.presstv.ir/photo/20100101/ghahri20100101031425734.JPG
A US federal judge has dismissed criminal charges against
five Blackwater/Xe security guards accused of fatally
shooting 14 people in Baghdad in September 2007.
On Thursday, Judge Ricardo Urbina said US government
prosecutors violated the defendants' rights by using
incriminating statements they had made under immunity during
a State Department probe to build their case.
"The government used the defendants' compelled statements to
guide its charging decisions, to formulate its theory of the
case, to develop investigatory leads, and ultimately to
obtain the indictment in the case," Urbina ruled.
"In short, the government had utterly failed to prove that
it made no impermissible use of the defendants' statement or
that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt."
The Blackwater/Xe mercenaries had been charged with killing
14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others using gunfire and
grenades at a busy Baghdad intersection in September 2007.
They faced charges of manslaughter.
In a public relations move meant to clean up the company's
image, which was tarnished by incidents in which civilians
were killed in the Iraq war, Blackwater Worldwide rebranded
and changed its name to a futuristic new name, Xe
(pronounced like the last letter of the alphabet), in
February 2009.
However, there is still great animosity toward Blackwater/Xe
in Iraq.
Many Iraqis believe the US military allowed Blackwater/Xe
mercenaries to commit numerous war crimes against their
compatriots with impunity, and the latest court ruling will
only reinforce such sentiments.
SG/SS/HGL
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115079§ionid=3510203
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Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.