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UN: Prosecute Rogue Contractors
Blackwater's Nisour Square shootings and the more recent killing of two Iraqi women by contractors for the Australian-run Unity Resources Group has raised the ire of the United Nations. AFP:
The UN called Thursday for rogue security guards in Iraq to face prosecution as the Australian-run firm involved in the latest civilian shooting insisted its staff stuck by clear rules of engagement."We would like the US government and other governments that have contractors in Iraq... to apply rules of engagement on them and to prosecute them in their own countries," UN spokesman Said Arikat told a press conference in Baghdad.
In the harshest criticism yet of private military companies in Iraq by any government or international body, UN human rights official Ivana Vaco said there needed to be an investigation into "whether crimes against humanity or war crimes have been committed." She didn't say who should spearhead such an inquiry.
Comments (6)
Billy Pilgrim wrote on October 11, 2007 11:25 AM:These cold-blooded murders will be long remembered as the signature of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Billy Pilgrim wrote on October 11, 2007 11:32 AM:Thanks for the memories, Dick Cheyney.
jolly ranchero wrote on October 11, 2007 12:07 PM:Question to y'all:
If a contractor is immune from charges in Iraq stemming from killing Iraqi citizens, is he (or she?) immune if he/she goes and kills another American...say a fellow Blackwater member? Does the victim's family have standing in a US court in this situation? Is it only a civil suit, or could that member face criminal charges, too? Both?
Simply--does immunity only extend to crimes by Americans on Iraqis, or does it extend to all crimes committed on anyone, regardless of nationality?
jolly ranchero wrote on October 11, 2007 12:07 PM:Question to y'all:
If a contractor is immune from charges in Iraq stemming from killing Iraqi citizens, is he (or she?) immune if he/she goes and kills another American...say a fellow Blackwater member? Does the victim's family have standing in a US court in this situation? Is it only a civil suit, or could that member face criminal charges, too? Both?
Simply--does immunity only extend to crimes by Americans on Iraqis, or does it extend to all crimes committed on anyone, regardless of nationality?
Carolyn wrote on October 11, 2007 1:57 PM:The UN sounds curiously like our congress. Making loud noises and carrying no stick.
parrot wrote on October 11, 2007 3:15 PM:Jolly Rancher has asked a very good question that our Congress should have asked Prince during those hearings last week. Basically, these guys smirk and kill and no one holds them accountable...unless it is to a U.S. Citizen? That question is a very, very good question.