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[6][85][86] Jurors sided with prosecutors' contention that the shooting was a criminal act, not a battlefield encounter gone wrong. "We've backed off that. That day destroyed me completely, Kinani said. [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. Slatten, whom prosecutors said started the shooting, was sentenced to life in prison. The killing of innocent civilians, including two young boys, sparked international outrage and public scrutiny into the use of private military companies . Then-Vice President Joe Biden held a press conference to tell the citizens of Iraq that they would not be abandoned. [73], The trial was set for early 2010,[74] but the charges were dismissed by United States District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Ricardo Urbina on December 31, 2009, who ruled that the Justice Department had mishandled evidence and violated the guards' constitutional rights. The Blackwater guards appeared to have fired grenade launchers in addition to machine guns, according to the report. U.S. troops were coming under fire in Baghdad and major Iraqi cities from the resistance forces. Since the harrowing Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in 2007, the Blackwater private military contractor, renamed as Academi in 2011 and becoming a subsidiary of Constellis Group following a merger with Triple Canopy in 2014, has built quite a business empire for itself. However, the company was allowed to continue to operate in Iraq until January 2009 when the U.S.Iraq Status of Forces Agreement took effect. 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". The ones who were killed on the street were shot running for their lives. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. US pardons Blackwater guards: An 'affront to justice' - UN experts [29] The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US government's reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq. They started out as a private security firm providing training support to law enforcement, the justice department, and military organizations and received their first contract from the United States government in 2000 after the bombing of the USS Cole. Why did it happen? Machine gunfire would cause his lifeless body to shake in his pool of blood. [26][27] A U.S. Army convoy arrived at 12:39p.m., backed by air cover, to escort TST 22 back to the Green Zone. The hallways were full. In 2013, Academi subsidiary International Development Solutions received an approximately $92million contract for State Department security guards. IE 11 is not supported. The news shows the helicopter falling to the ground as it burns. The Beginning Blackwater USA began in 1997 by Al Clark and Erik Prince. Three Ex-Blackwater Guards Are Resentenced in Iraq War Massacre The men will serve about half of their original 30-year sentences for their roles in a 2007 shooting of unarmed civilians in Iraq . They could not do anything for him. [49], An Interior Ministry spokesman said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths. NPR reports that sometime after the Al-Qaeda bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen in October 2000, where 17 sailors were killed, Blackwater won a $46 million contract from the U.S government for "training sailors in counterterrorism." After the September 11th attacks, Blackwater expanded their security-related work . 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. [17], Just before noon on September 16, 2007, a car bomb exploded near the Izdihar Compound where US and Iraqi officials were meeting,[20]:547 and a 19-man Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST) consisting of a convoy of four trucks, answering to the call sign "Raven 23", took up positions on the south side of Nisour Square to secure an evacuation route for the US officials and another Blackwater team providing security for them. After the convictions, Blackwater which changed its name to Xe and then Academi after being sold said it was relieved that the justice system has completed its investigation into a tragedy that occurred at Nisour Square in 2007 and that any wrongdoing that was carried out has been addressed by our courts. [37] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. They claimed they were fired on, but prosecutors said the Blackwater guards opened fire first. However, after "Raven 23" entered Nisour Square, Watson was ordered to "lock down the traffic circle to expedite the travel of [the other Blackwater team]". [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. [41] Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass similar legislation as soon as possible. [15] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Each step of the way, the U.S. legal system ensured that these men were given fair and just prosecutions. The Nisour Square massacre was one of the most publicized US crimes of the 8-year Iraq war. The only way these men could be brought to justice was in the United States. A 20,000-strong mercenary army is being assembled in Poland. Slattern was sentenced to life and the others to 30 years in prison each. They would turn Blackwater into roadkill. [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. "[32] According to Blackwater vice-president Marty Strong, the convoy was hit with "a large explosive device" and "repeated small arms fire" which disabled a vehicle. The massacre took place in 2007, when the four were working as guards for Blackwater, a private military contractor, on an assignment in Baghdad. [97], On December 22, 2020, U.S. President Donald Trump granted full presidential pardons to Slatten, Slough, Liberty, and Heard. During the litigation, an appeal was ongoing in the 4h Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. Likewise, the civil case ran through North Carolina state court, was removed to federal court, and then sent back to state court. The Nisour Square massacre was the FBIs most comprehensive and expensive criminal investigation since 9/11. 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. 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. The My Lai massacre took place on 16 March 1968. Depicting a doomsday scenario in order to malign Russias calculated offensive in Ukraine to minimize collateral damage, mainstream reporting focused today on thefire that broke out [1] at Zaporizhzhia plant, one of Europes largest nuclear power plants situated 550 km southeast of Kyiv. 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. In the sheer desperation to inflict maximum material damage to Russias security forces, however, NATO appears to have breached its own long-standing convention of curbing the proliferation of anti-aircraft munitions. Associated Press WASHINGTON Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were convicted and immediately jailed Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisour Square. It wasnt. My clients assuredly feel ignored, mistreated, and used. The incident was allegedly resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop. Dec. 24, 2020 Mohammed Hafedh Abdulrazzaq Kinani with a photo of his 9-year-old son, Ali, who was killed by Blackwater. [92] However, the court then found that the mandatory minimum sentences as applied to the defendants were unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishments, over the partial dissent of Judge Judith W. When Mohammed saw the convoy enter the traffic circle, he initially thought they were regular U.S. Army members. Blackwater mercenary sentenced to life in prison - NationofChange Majid Al Kareem was 51 years old when he was shot. He was shot while seated in a public bus. Trump Pardons Blackwater 4 for Nisour Square Massacre in Iraq, because It was funded with millions that. Supporters of the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide had lobbied for the pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished. "This was Baghdad's Bloody Sunday," Dickinson told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly on Wednesday. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. He was driving on flat tires and with a shattered windshield. Let us assume that I travel to America and kill 17 American citizens. LONDON and BAGHDAD -- When news broke that Mohammed Kinani's son's killers, Blackwater private military contractors hired by the U.S. government in Baghdad, were pardoned Wednesday by President Trump, Kinani said it was like losing his 9-year-old boy all over again. Or should I say Why is he still breathing? They are coming to defend freedom, defend life. [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. [19] The three justifiable killings were those of the two passengers in the white Kia sedan and an unidentified Iraqi nearby. [83], In September 2013, the charges against Ball were dropped. Each time the criminal charges were seemed lost, the U.S. Department of Justice told them they were not forgotten that we would continue to pursue the convictions of those who committed the crimes against them. How is Eric Prince still breathing? A burnt car at the site where Blackwater guards opened fire on a crowd in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2007. American troops invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled Saddam Hussein's regime. and thus prosecution by U.S. Nicholas Slatten, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough and Devin Heard were convicted on charges of first-degree murder and manslaughter by a federal jury in October 2014. AP [25], A State Department spot report published the same day as the incident stated that eight to ten attackers opened fire on Raven 23 "from multiple nearby locations, with some aggressors dressed in civilian apparel and others in Iraqi police uniforms" after the convoy had entered Nisour Square,[26] starting at 12:08p.m.[27] The report added that another Blackwater Tactical Support Team (TST 22), who had escorted the officials and TST 4 back to the Green Zone, was redirected to support Raven 23. Scores of Iraqis injured in anti-government protests in Baghdad, Who will protect us?: Baghdad residents wait out fighting as city grinds to halt, Iraqi cleric tells loyalists to return to their homes after fighting in Baghdad, Deadly violence in Baghdad after leading cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says he is quitting politics, Shia factions mass in Baghdad raising fears of more unrest, Protesters storm Iraq parliament again amid unrest over Iran-backed groups, Iran may eventually get its way in protracted power struggle in Iraq, Hundreds of protesters storm Iraq parliament in support of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, Briton jailed in Iraq for smuggling antiquities to be freed, says lawyer. The Blackwater mess has roiled Capitol Hill and shined light on the many questions surrounding the legal status, management, oversight and accountability of the private military force in Iraq,. [77] "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", a BBC report explained. Russian Forces strike Ukrainian Armys Electronic Intelligence Center in Kiev Region. He was in the car next to Mohammed. Its worth recalling that before the Biden-Putin summit at Geneva last June, Russia had a similar troop build-up along Ukraines borders. [99], Clemency caused outrage among Iraqi citizens and family members of the victims. Trump pardons Blackwater killers for Nisour Square massacre He thought they had been given a miracle after he saw so many others killed. [29] Several sources have stated that the explosion was caused by a mortar round, though this is not reflected in the State Department's incident report. Mohammed was thrilled when the U.S. entered Baghdad years earlier in 2003. [63], A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world. Thats all it takes to support the journalism you rely on. Mahde Shamke was 25 years old and driving a taxi to support his parents and siblings. The pardons could damage the United States' reputation abroad, as they undo the significance of the convictions, which had demonstrated that U.S. military contractors could be held accountable if they conducted criminal actions. For us, for everyone. 15 years after US Blackwater mercenaries massacred civilians in Baghdad Mohammed kept seeing the man on the ground next to him being fired upon as he lay dead. On Tuesday, President Trump pardoned four former Blackwater contractors convicted in the killings. "How are. Blackwater mercenaries committed a massacre. These men will now be free, despite their crimes, and they will not serve the time in prison they deserved. Three former employees of the US private military contractor once known as Blackwater were sentenced to 30 years in prison on Monday and a fourth received a life sentence . Trump's pardon of mercenaries guilty of massacre in Iraq leads to WaPo says, 'Investigators for the military and the FBI later described . The four armored vehicles drove away. (L-r) Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Paul Slough, Nicholas Slatten. Free shipping for many products! "Victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law also have the right to a remedy. 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. 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. That wasnt unusual. Spring flowers are planted in Nisour Square, the site of a deadly shootout by Blackwater private security contractors in 2007, in Baghdad on April 15, 2015. The result of the long legal battle is that each man was ensured a fair trial, free of partiality and without unjust favor. President Donald Trump's decision to pardon four Blackwater private security contractors convicted of a massacre in Baghdad has been met with fury by the victims' families in Iraq. The incident happened at the height of the "military surge" ordered by the then President George W. Bush to bring the armed resistance against the occupation in Iraq under control. "Trump pardons Blackwater contractors jailed for massacre of Iraq civilians", 23 December 2020. Are they going to release me?". None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. ", "After years of waiting, the victims finally saw justice served when these men were convicted," she said in an email. The Untold Truth Of The Blackwater Massacre - Grunge Liberty is one of four former Blackwater mercenaries pardoned by President Donald Trump in one of . The State Department announced an American-Iraqi joint commission to investigate both the shooting and the broader issue of employing private security contractors. [48] According to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice promised a "fair and transparent" investigation into the incident. The result is not just that we see an injustice in the United States, but that the world must surely see cracks in the pillars of justice upon which our system is based. The Intercept is an independent nonprofit news outlet. The order confines most Americans to a 3.5 square miles (9.1km2) area in the center of the city so that they are unable to visit other areas without traveling in a helicopter.