[89][90][91] The panel also recommended that Slatten undergo a re-trial on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately. [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. His tough faade cracked as he described the moment he learned about 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. Within 10 days of the massacre, it appeared as though the State Department had already investigated the incident based on a report leaked to the media. He spent the next two months at home, recuperating. Essentially, Prince wanted a "free-market version" of military training. [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. They then set off stun grenades to clear the scene. [3][84] Prosecutors stated they reached their decision after an "assessment of the admissible evidence against him". Share this via Printer. With tears in his eyes, Haythem described his beloved wife and son. [54] He enlisted in 1999, and served in Bosnia with the 3rd Infantry Division. According to Reuters, in 2009, the State Department finally decided not to renew their contract with Blackwater in Iraq. Donald Trump has pardoned the four contractors jailed over the killing of 14 civilians. In their view, this confirmed that they were under attack by a vehicle bomb, whereupon they fired at the car, killing both people in it as well as the Iraqi policeman. [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. [38] Waxman stated that "the controversy over Blackwater is an unfortunate demonstration of the perils of excessive reliance on private security contractors. However, as The New York Times reports, "not one witness heard or saw any gunfire coming from Iraqis around the square." And Blackwater didn't make the investigation easy. Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3)nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808. In the span of 20 minutes, 17 Iraqi people were killed and another 24 were left wounded. If successful, it will be the first time the US government has held private security contractors criminally liable for abusive behavior directed at Iraqis. [100] UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado said that forgiveness "contributes to impunity and has the effect of encouraging others to commit such crimes in the future". The security industry has evolved drastically since those events, and under the direction of new ownership and leadership, Academi has invested heavily in compliance and ethics programmes, training for our employees, and preventative measures to strictly comply with all US and local government laws.. A Blackwater team was already there, with the diplomat, who ended up being escorted back to the International Zone without any incident. A lawsuit filed in 2007 also accused Blackwater of killing five Iraqi civilians without justification just one week before the Nisour Square massacre. "The civilians that were fired upon, they didn't have any weapons to fire back at them. Blackwater guards were also known for driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into civilian cars. Ahmed would count upwards of 40 bullet holes in their car alone. An Iraqi looks 24 September 2007, at a burnt car on the site where Blackwater guards who were escorting US embassy officials opened fire in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Yarmukh, a shootout . Khalaf's observations are backed up by official accounts, including leaked FBI findings, which concluded that at least 14 of the 17 shooting deaths were unjustified, and statements by military. [23]:32 Shortly after assuming their positions, "Raven 23" began firing on civilians in response to an approaching car, killing fourteen and wounding twenty more. Their first contract, awarded in June 2004, was for $100 million for one year. [42] A spokesman stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent. All rights reserved. [43], 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. "I kept calling, but thought there must be some sort of cellphone interruption.". [21]:116[22] The Blackwater commander, Jimmy Watson, had received an order to stand by and not leave the Green Zone upon reaching a checkpoint, but he made a "tactical decision" to advance to Nisour Square after waiting for a few minutes; upon informing the Blackwater Tactical Operations Center of this, he was ordered to return to the Green Zone. He hid behind the police traffic booth, but shots came directly at him, hitting the adjacent traffic light and booth's door, and he fled back across Yarmouk road to safety behind a hill. Says Guards Killed 14 Iraqis Without Cause", "Blackwater guards lose bid to appeal charges in Iraqi civilian shooting case", "U.S. troops in Iraq will need immunity: U.S. chief", "Jurors' Note Hints at Conviction in Blackwater Case", "Former Blackwater Guards Convicted in Iraq Shooting", "Shock And Dismay After Trump Pardons Blackwater Guards Who Killed 14 Iraqi Civilians", "Trump Pardons Two Russia Inquiry Figures and Blackwater Guards", "Trump pardon of Blackwater Iraq contractors violates international law - UN", "Iraqi Inquiry Says Shooting Was Unprovoked", "Blackwater guards fired unprovoked: Iraq police evidence", "Pentagon Dispatches Investigators to Iraq to Probe Private Security Contractors", "Joint Iraqi-U.S. review begins in wake of Blackwater firefight", "Blackwater faulted by U.S. military: report", "Iraq determined to rein in private security guards", "The Iraqi Account of the Killings [infographic]", "Former Blackwater Employee Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Murder in 2007 Shooting at Nisur Square in Iraq", "US Lawyers for Blackwater Guards: 2007 Baghdad Shooting was Self-Defense", "From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths", "Four Former Blackwater Employees Found Guilty of Charges in Fatal Nisur Square Shooting in Iraq", "Iraqi ministers back Blackwater shutdown - CNN.com", "Iraqi Report Says Blackwater Guards Fired First", "State Dept. [26][29], An Iraqi government account of the incident stated that as the convoy drew close to Nisour Square, a Kia sedan with a woman and her adult son in it was approaching the square from a distance, driving slowly on the wrong side of the road, and that the driver ignored a police officer's whistle to clear a path for the convoy. This is the untold truth of the Blackwater massacre. There needs to be a wholesale reform of the way security contractors and those that oversee their work do business. On YouTube.The Blackwater Shooting (2007) | The New York Times http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes His forehead and brains were missing and his skin completely burned. [16] The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause. ", Failure to Uncover the Fate of Syrias Missing, Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in close to 100 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice. [6][85][86] Jurors sided with prosecutors' contention that the shooting was a criminal act, not a battlefield encounter gone wrong. [36] Several Iraqi and American investigations have been conducted into the incident. "I raised my left arm high in the air to try to signal to the convoy to stop the shooting," he said, thinking that it would respond to such a gesture by a police officer. On September 16, 2007, a car bomb went off in Baghdad, Iraq, near the Izdihar Compound, where a U.S. diplomat was meeting with Iraqi officials, at approximately 11:53 AM. One of the Blackwater guards reportedly screamed "No! Tasks of the PMC are the support and training of military and police operations. 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. [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". 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. "[51][52][53], On January 19, 2008, The New York Times reported that the contractor responsible for many of the deaths in the engagement, previously known only as "turret gunner no. No! (An unrelated bombing in a nearby market cut the shopping trip short.) [78] The opinion elaborated "the government failed to establish that the Iraqi witnesses it presented to the second grand jury were not in any way influenced by their previous exposure to the defendants' compelled statements. Some witnesses also claimed that the same Blackwater team subsequently opened fire on another line of traffic after the shooting in Nisour Square. 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". He waited and waited, and eventually went home without them. Now, left to deal with the aftermath are 16 grieving families, and those, like Hooby, still trying to recover from their wounds. Haythem eventually told him that "if he could give me my loved ones, I would gladly give him $200 million.". [10][11] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked. Help us continue to fight human rights abuses. At stake is the future of other innocent lives, as well as America's reputation throughout the Middle East and across the world. [37] A senior aide to al-Maliki said that three of the Blackwater guards were Iraqis and could be subject to prosecution. [77] "Prosecutors should therefore have built their case against the men without them", a BBC report explained. Between 2004 and 2008, the State Department ended giving Blackwater more than $1 billion in contracts. [99], Clemency caused outrage among Iraqi citizens and family members of the victims. My son!" Boslego also said the attack had a negative effect on our mission, [an] adverse effect It made our relationship with the Iraqis in general more strained.. 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. Human Rights Watch reports that some helicopters above ever started shooting at the street below. The incident was allegedly resolved only after another Blackwater contractor pointed his weapon at the man still firing and ordered him to stop. Of the 17 that lost their lives, two were children under the age of 12, with the youngest aged 9 years old. 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. And he contended that the helicopters never fired on those below. Contractor Banned by Iraq Over Shootings", "F.B.I. Assadi is now the sole breadwinner for the entire family. Supporters of the former contractors at Blackwater Worldwide had lobbied for the pardons, arguing that the men had been excessively punished. [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. Haythem identified his son from what was left of his shoes. Haythem, the composed, articulate and powerfully calm father and husband of Ahmed and Mohasin, who died in the white car, expected them to pick him up at the health center where he worked that afternoon. Now they'll go free. A rocket grenade was fired into one of the cars, killing its driver. Khalaf's observations are backed up by official accounts, including leaked FBI findings, which concluded that at least 14 of the 17 shooting deaths were unjustified, and statements by military officials disputing Blackwater's claim that its guards had been fired upon or under any sort of attack. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. We are taking fire from insurgents and Iraqi police. Assadi, 31, a stoic, unsmiling man, became the head of the family after his older brother Usama was killed in the shootings. "[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. [46] On September 21, CNN reported that Blackwater would resume normal operations the following day. As the convoy stopped, Khalaf watched as a large man with a mustache standing atop the third car fired several shots in the air. [59] (The Protocol makes no distinction between defensive and offensive actions, but the U.S. does make such a distinction, in that it does not regard defensive actions by security guards to be combat. However, there's never been any evidence that the Blackwater convoy took hostile fire. [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. I took Mr. Carroll's threat seriously. The team is suing Blackwater on behalf of the victims of the Sept. 16 shooting. 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. Four guards fired on unarmed crowd in Baghdad in 2007, killing 14 and sparking outrage over use of private security in war zones. Blackwater's contracts for protecting American diplomats also weren't limited to Iraq. The report further said that Blackwater had reported that its forces fired first in over 80 percent of the cases. A sixth guard, Jeremy Ridgeway, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with investigators, World reports. 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. Prince's prepared testimony also asserted that one of the vehicles had been disabled by the "enemy fire" and had to be towed. In the end, after seven weeks of deliberations, Slough, Heard, and Liberty were convicted of voluntary manslaughter and Slatten was found guilty of murder, since he was responsible for the first death in Nisour Square, Reuters reports. The line of bullet holes in one side door is overshadowed by the two soccer-ball-size holes in the roof and driver's side door. Interviews with victims and witnesses to the Sept. 16 shooting in Nissour Square bring to light more information about the problems caused by private contractors, which have effectively operated with impunity as they've brought violence and widespread ill will to US operations in Iraq. Blackwater despite numerous scandals, congressional investigations, FBI probes and documented killings of civilians in both Iraq and Afghanistan remained a central part of the Obama. In 2008, the United States Department of Justice filed criminal charges against Donald Ball, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten (pictured, center), and Paul Slough, all of whom were Blackwater guards during the Nisour Square massacre. Fifteen minutes later, 17 Iraqi civilians were dead, dozens more wounded, and a white sedan that had been engulfed in flames contained two bodies charred beyond recognition. Slough, Liberty and Heard were convicted on multiple charges of voluntary and attempted manslaughter in 2014, while Slatten, who was the first to start shooting, was convicted of first-degree murder. 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 The large metal rod implanted by the surgeon to help his broken bone heal properly is expected to be removed at the end of December.
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