Along with a few hundred others, he stayed there as the chaos unfolded, watching as the helicopters circling above the street started shooting at those below. Even in this case, the FBI did not visit the crime scene for more than two weeks after the incident, during which time State Department investigators interviewing Blackwater employees offered them limited immunity, complicating the prosecution. 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. [50], On October 4, 2007, U.S. military reports indicated Blackwater's guards had opened fire without provocation and used excessive force. However, according to Reuters, a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, claiming that "the U.S. government had recklessly violated the defendants' constitutional rights." The four guards Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten were part of an armoured convoy that opened fire indiscriminately with machine-guns, grenade launchers and a sniper on a crowd of unarmed people in a square in the Iraqi capital. Two helicopters circled overhead, each with a man strapped in and a machine gun sticking out. Employees of Blackwater (now called Academi), which was contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at unarmed Iraqi civilians while escorting a US embassy convoy, killing 17 and leaving 20 injured. From Iraq to New Orleans, it's continued to pull in multimillion-dollar government contracts, mostly without accountability and in near secrecy.. The Kia continued to roll forward after the driver was killed, according to an eyewitness, and Raven 23 continued to fire on it, killing the passenger (the driver's mother); eventually, the Kia was struck by a grenade and was incinerated. 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", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nisour_Square_massacre&oldid=1151889827, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 21:36. Other times, Blackwater guards left a trail of civilian casualties. Prince's remarks were subsequently reported in the Washington Post.). In August 2019, Slatten was once more sentenced to life in prison without parole, Al Jazeera reports. 23 December 2020. The incident led to at least five investigations and although the Blackwater guards repeatedly claimed that their actions were justified, several of them came to the opposite conclusion. Despite the reports and investigations that determined that the use of force was unjustified, the Blackwater guards maintain that they'd "never take an innocent life. NOW ON DVD www.noendinsightmovie.com The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq's descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality . Prosecutors argued the men did not face hostile gunfire when they began shooting, and continued to shoot despite the lack of threats. The committee was co-chaired by Abd al Qadir, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, and Patricia A. Butenis, the Charg d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. An Iraqi man who survived an infamous massacre of unarmed civilians by American security guards in Baghdad has condemned President Donald Trump's decision to pardon the men as "unjust . FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases of a kind not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. With the contract to provide security for L. Paul Bremer, Blackwater essentially "cement[ed] its presence at the center of conflict in Iraq," per PBS. Khalaf, who was there before the shooting began, said he never saw anyone fire on or approach the convoy. They were also contracted for personal protective services in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, Israel, and Palestine. [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. Meanwhile, the Blackwater guards continue to maintain that they "didn't shoot at anybody that wasn't shooting at me," as Liberty stated in an interview with the Associated Press. [99], Clemency caused outrage among Iraqi citizens and family members of the victims. The story follows Prince, a Navy SEAL turned billionaire, as he is dogged by a grand-jury. [44] Blackwater's operations on behalf of the U.S. Department of State and the CIA may be unaffected by license revocation. [58] Nor is the US a signatory of the 1977 additional protocol to the 1949 Geneva Conventions in which Article 47 specifies that mercenaries are civilians who "take a direct part in the hostilities" and are "motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain". Ghasson Mahmood was a 55-year-old civil engineer. Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. [55], On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. As the convoy stopped, Khalaf watched as a large man with a mustache standing atop the third car fired several shots in the air. Black Water is a 2007 Australian horror film written and directed by Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich. The audit also revealed that Blackwater overbilled at least $70,000 in travel costs. None of the Iraqis we interviewed last month could describe their losses without breaking down in tears. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, whose sister, Betsy DeVos, was appointed Trumps education secretary. No! (modern). In remarks prepared for delivery before a congressional hearing in October, Blackwater chairman Erik Prince claimed company guards "returned fire at threatening targets," including "men with AK-47s firing on the convoy" and "approaching vehicles that appeared to be suicide car bombers." [54] He served one tour in Iraq before being hired as a Personal Security Specialist in Iraq. Assadi, 31, a stoic, unsmiling man, became the head of the family after his older brother Usama was killed in the shootings. and thus prosecution by U.S. But the State Department representative kept insisting on a number. courts. As he slumped forward, his weight on the accelerator meant the car kept moving. In fact, they even renewed the contract in 2008. Prince strongly criticized the way in which federal authorities had handled the investigation and disputed the claims that U.S. or Blackwater personnel were to blame for the shootings. Ex-Blackwater contractor sentenced to life in Iraq shootings By ASHRAF KHALIL August 14, 2019 WASHINGTON (AP) A former Blackwater security contractor was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for his role in the 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq that left 14 people dead. Assadi is now the sole breadwinner for the entire family. "Convoys are common," explained Khalaf. With experience learned from a similar lawsuit filed two years ago against US contractors implicated in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison scandal, Burke O'Neil is perhaps the only law firm in the nation that could so quickly gather eyewitness and victim accounts, make the right legal arguments and begin the process of holding Blackwater to account. [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. [57], In October 2007, the United Nations released a two-year study that stated that private contractors, although hired as "security guards", were performing military duties. The Blackwater team also claimed that some of the "aggressors" were dressed like Iraqi Police as well as civilians. We responded to a threat accordingly." He watched as all four cars drove away as the 15-minute shooting spree ended, and huddled in fear as the helicopters began firing. An estimated 20,000 to 35,000 private security contractors operate in Iraq, without adequate oversight, without adequate training and without adequate legal sanctions to hold abusers accountable. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings", "F.B.I. [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]. Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3)nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808. They beat citizens and scorn them. No!" Trump pardons ex-campaign aide and disgraced Republican lawmakers, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. [63], A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. The New York Times reports that when Richter confronted Daniel Carroll, Blackwater's Iraq project manager, about this on August 21, 2007, Carroll became incredibly aggressive and told Richter "that he [Carroll] could kill me [Richter] at that very moment and no one could or would do anything about it as we were in Iraq. Raven 23's commander Jimmy Watson reportedly made the "tactical decision" to go to Nisour Square and block traffic for an evacuation route. [12] The U.S. State Department has said that "innocent life was lost",[13] and according to The Washington Post, a military report appeared to corroborate "the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault". A few token prosecutions of a handful of Blackwater employees will not be enough. Join our movement today. Now they'll go free. With Georgia Chris, Amy Simon, McCayne Blomberg, Jenny Robinson. Share this via Twitter None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. This time, only four out of the five guards were charged, since the charges against Ball were dropped based on "prosecutorial discretion. "Everyone loved him. Fifteen minutes later, the four-car convoy continued around the square and drove away. The White House further stated that the Court of Appeals "ruled that additional evidence should have been presented at Mr Slatten's trial", and recently that prosecutors said "that the lead Iraqi investigator, who prosecutors relied heavily on to verify that there were no insurgent victims and to collect evidence, may have had ties to insurgent groups himself". It's all the news that's fit to watch. The State Department has offered family members $10,000 for those killed in the Sept. 16 shootings -- an amount most consider insultingly low and have refused. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. In the last month of his term, U.S. President Donald Trump issued pardons to Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard. [26][27], On September 27, 2007, 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. Also quoted in the memorandum was David Boslego, a retired US army colonel, who said the massacre was a grossly excessive use of force and grossly inappropriate for an entity whose only job was to provide personal protection to somebody in an armoured vehicle. If successful, it will be the first time the US government has held private security contractors criminally liable for abusive behavior directed at Iraqis. The key people in this have not spoken with investigators. Meanwhile, it took two weeks before a 10-person FBI team was sent to investigate the massacre for the government. The incident led to at least five investigations and although the Blackwater guards repeatedly claimed that their actions were justified, several of them came to the opposite conclusion. The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the broader issue of employing private security contractors. But the Iraqis' hands are tied. Some of the Iraqis told me that they don't even care about the money. When he got out of his car to find out what was happening, he saw the convoy and the white car burning, and started yelling at the other cars to turn around. This contract ended up being extended into 2006 and the total cost of that single contract came out to over $300 million. Share this via Printer. He spent the next three days in the hospital and underwent major surgery on his right arm, which was fractured by a bullet. And Blackwater is not the only problem. "[21] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki harshly criticized the dismissal. Although Blackwater denies using helicopters, "at least one [of] the car roofs had bullets through them.". Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones. U.S. military reports appear to corroborate the Iraqi government's contention that Blackwater was at fault in the incident. Now, left to deal with the aftermath are 16 grieving families, and those, like Hooby, still trying to recover from their wounds. The US government said in a memorandum filed after the sentencing: None of the victims was an insurgent, or posed any threat to the Raven 23 convoy. The memorandum also contained quotations from relatives of the dead, including Mohammad Kinani, whose nine-year-old son Ali was killed. Rogers. The deceased included nine and 11-year-old boys. The film's primary themes are: [21][75] In the memorandum opinion, Judge Urbina ruled the cases against Slough, Liberty, Heard, Ball, and Slatten had been improperly built on testimony given in exchange for immunity;[76] that evidence included statements the guards had been compelled to give to State Department investigators, and as these statements would have been self-incriminating, they could not be used as evidence under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. I don't know how to manage my life or care for my other two children without her. Adrienne Ballenger . Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians. In addition, the vehicles that were meant to protect diplomats were "poorly maintained," and during one party, four drunk Blackwater guards had crashed a $180,000 armored vehicle into a concrete barrier. US prosecutors are now reportedly trying to build a case against those involved in the Sept. 16 shootings. In November last year, he pardoned a former US army commando who was set to stand trial over the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker, and a former army lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire at three Afghans. As shootings in the square were not uncommon, it is unclear whether the shells were from the shooting in question or from other incidents. ", Meanwhile, on October 11, 2007, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed charges against Blackwater U.S.A. on behalf of an injured survivor and the families of three men who were killed during the Nisour Square massacre. The case was consolidated with four other cases against Blackwater and on January 1, 2010, the plaintiffs agreed to a settlement and to withdraw their complaint. [18][30] Iraqi investigators also alleged that Blackwater helicopters fired into the cars from the air, as at least one car had bullet holes in its roof; Blackwater has denied any of its aerial units discharged weapons. This decision was appealed by the Department of Justice and in 2011, the ruling was reversed. [42] A spokesman stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent. [54], Radio logs released in December 2008 seemed to affirm that the guards had been responding to an attack on September 16. A sixth guard, Jeremy Ridgeway, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with investigators, World reports. [54] He received an honorable discharge in 2002 and then enlisted in the Texas National Guard. He was shot through the roof of his car as the Blackwater convoy drove past firing down into traffic. When Slatten was tried for a third time, the jury deliberated for five days before finding him guilty of first-degree murder in December 2018. By 2007, the State Department started reviewing Blackwater's $1 billion contract and they discovered a slew of misconduct. [37], Blackwater, which had been operating in Iraq without an Iraqi government license, applied for one after the incident, but the application was rejected by Iraqi officials in January 2009. After it was added, defense attorneys contended a 30-year sentence would be too severe, since the law was intended to deter gang members from carrying automatic weapons. "If you perceive marriage as half of your life, Mohasin was my best half," he said. The Burke O'Neil lawsuit may be the only way that victims receive compensation for their loss. And none of the I.P. 3", is named Paul Slough. The UN has sharply criticised President Donald Trump's decision to pardon four former Blackwater . [12] On October 4, 2007, the U.S. House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act[65] "[29], On October 4, 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it would be taking the lead in the investigation of the shooting incident. The logs depicted "a hectic eight minutes in which the guards repeatedly reported incoming gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police". However, according to The New York Times, the Iraqi government technically didn't have the legal authority to do so since the U.S.-led transitional government shielded security contractors from Iraqi laws, per CNN. "I tried to help the young man, but his mother was holding him so tight," said Khalaf. Meanwhile, although Moonen admitted that he was intoxicated, he maintained that he shot in self-defense. The film documents the use of chemical weapons, particularly the use of incendiary bombs, and alleges indiscriminate use of violence against civilians and children by military forces of the United States of America in the city of Fallujah in Iraq during the Fallujah Offensive of November 2004 . Get updates on human rights issues from around the globe. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. The Blackwater guards also shot at cars, taxis, and buses. Five independent UN experts condemned United States President Donald Trump's pardoning of private security contractors, convicted in 2015 for war crimes in Iraq, on Wednesday. [37] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. "I thought I was dying.". This wasn't the first time that Blackwater was involved in an unnecessary shooting. Blackwater: Directed by Bill Rogers, Bill Schreiber, R. Douglas Zipperer. A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report. Robert Young Pelton, a journalist who spent a month with Blackwater in Iraq, said that the guards "use[d] their machine guns like car horns," per Tidings Media. [89][90][91] The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's fractured per curiam decision first found that Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act authorized the prosecutions, over the partial dissent of Judge Janice Rogers Brown. In October, the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform released its analysis of Blackwater's own internal reporting since 2005, which found 195 shooting incidents in the last two years, including 160 in which Blackwater employees fired the first shot. Convoy Attacked in Baghdad, Sparking a Shootout", "3 Blackwater Guards Called Baghdad Shootings Unjustified", "Blackwater Denies Any Wrongdoing in Shooting Incident (Update1)", "Iraqi leader urges U.S. to cancel Blackwater contract", "Iraqi Investigators say Videotape Shows Blackwater Guards Fired Without Aggravation", "House Passes Bill That Would Hike Penalties for U.S. Security Contractors in Iraq", "Private Security Company Association Iraq", "Iraqi Government Disputes Blackwater USA's Version of Shooting", "Iraq battle was self-defense, security firm says", "FBI takes lead in probe over Blackwater crisis", "Blackwater most often shoots first, congressional report says", "Report: Blackwater Killings Unjustified", "From Texas to Iraq, and Center of Blackwater Case", No forensic match for ammo in Blackwater shooting, "The Associated Press: APNewsBreak: Blackwater founder questions FBI work", "Overcoming post-colonial myopia: A call to recognize and regulate private military companie"s, Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army, "Wounded Iraqis: 'No one did anything' to provoke Blackwater", "Blackwater incident witness: 'It was hell', Family Members of Slain Iraqis Sue Blackwater USA for Deadly Baghdad Shooting, "Blackwater Verdict a U.S. 'Snub' of Iraqi Leader Nouri al-Maliki: Kayhan, Islamic Republic of Iran", "White House: Contractor bill would have 'intolerable' effects", "Blackwater settles Nisoor Square lawsuit", "5 Blackwater guards face manslaughter charges", "Blackwater Guard in Secret Deal to Testify in Massacre Case", "US judge sets trial in 2010 for Blackwater guards", "Appeals court revives Blackwater shooting case", "US judge dismisses charges in Blackwater Iraq killings", "Reopening of Blackwater Case Confuses Iraqi Victims", "Biden Says U.S. Will Appeal Blackwater Case Dismissal (Published 2010)", "ICD - Slough et al. US President Donald Trump has pardoned four former security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were serving long jail terms for killing 14 Iraqi civilians, including two children, during the infamous 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. [95][96] Heard, Liberty, and Slough were resentenced on September 5, 2019 to terms approximately half the original 30-year periods. Blackwater Security Consulting, also known as Blackwater Worldwide, was founded in 1997 by Al Clark and Erik Prince as a private security firm. Please give now to support our work, New testimony from witnesses and victims provides the most in-depth, harrowing account to date of the US security firm's deadly rampage in Iraq, Share this via Facebook Then the mother was shot dead before his eyes. In an instant, Ahmed was shot through the head. [6][85][86] Jurors sided with prosecutors' contention that the shooting was a criminal act, not a battlefield encounter gone wrong. The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy. "[46] Hasan Jaber Salman, a lawyer who was one of the wounded, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind"[61] 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. "All of a sudden, I felt pain in my right arm and left leg, opened the car door, and rolled out," said Hooby. Stuck in heavy traffic on the opposite side of the square from Yarmouk road, he heard the shooting start. Multiple civilian deaths linked to 2016-17 British airstrikes against IS in Mosul, Lives torn apart by British airstrikes in Mosul give lie to UKs perfect precision war, Onthe frontlines of the Iraq war 2003-08 in pictures, Theaccidental journalist who covered the war in Iraq, Annalena Baerbocks feminist foreign policy focuses minds in Iraq, Long shadow of US invasion of Iraq still looms over international order, Iraqi customs officials ordered to impose import ban on alcohol, Scores of Iraqis injured in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Who will protect us?: Baghdad residents wait out fighting as city grinds to halt. However, according to "Blackwater" by Jeremy Scahill, the report was written by Darren Hanner, a Blackwater contractor. Share this via Telegram [56], On April 1, 2011, the Associated Press reported on Erik Prince's seven-hour testimony about what allegedly transpired. [21]:116, During opening arguments for a criminal trial held in 2014, defense lawyers representing former Blackwater members of Raven 23 argued the men felt the approaching Kia was a credible threat as a possible car bomb, and opened fire in self-defense. The Blackwater company itself wasn't charged. His brother went to the emergency room, then to the morgue. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked. The trial against Heard, Liberty, Slatten, and Slough began around June 2014 and lasted over two months. [3][84] Prosecutors stated they reached their decision after an "assessment of the admissible evidence against him". According to CNN, between January and September 2005, Blackwater guards fired their guns 195 times, "an average of 1.4 times a week." Haythem eventually told him that "if he could give me my loved ones, I would gladly give him $200 million.". The Blackwater Shooting October 25, 2007 Witnesses shed new light on the killing of 17 Iraqis by American contractors in Baghdad. On YouTube.The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes His brother left behind a wife and four children. In a panic, Hooby turned his car around and was leaving the area when the convoy approached from behind, throwing water bottles at the roof of his car. And in 80% of the cases, Blackwater guards were the ones firing first. Slattern was sentenced to life and the others to 30 years in prison each. [14], On October 13, 2007, the FBI reported that it had concluded that at least 14 of the 17 Iraqis who died in the square had been killed without cause. 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". NBC News reports that they repainted and repaired their trucks in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, despite the fact that the repairs "essentially destroyed evidence" that would've shown if Blackwater was facing hostile gunfire. Ahmed Haythem and his mother, Mohasin, were both killed in the Blackwater shootings in Baghdad on September 16, 2007. [19] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia. However, according to the Joint Audit of Blackwater Contract, the State Department offered little-to-no oversight of Blackwater's performance or cost, and often monthly invoices were "paid without adequate review of support documentation."
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