UN criticises Donald Trump s pardons for Blackwater guards Updated Dec 24, 2020 | 07:44 IST
The UN Human Rights Office warned that the pardons would serve to embolden others to commit similar crimes, the BBC reported on Wednesday. US President Donald Trump | Photo Credit: PTI
United Nations: The UN has sharply criticised President Donald Trump s decision to pardon four former Blackwater contractors jailed over the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians.
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard opened fire in Baghdad s Nisoor Square in 2007 while guarding an American diplomatic convoy.
The UN Human Rights Office warned that the pardons would serve to embolden others to commit similar crimes, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
(Last Updated On: December 23, 2020)
The United Nations said Wednesday night it was deeply concerned by US President Donald Trump’s move to pardon four former Blackwater security contractors convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in 2007.
“We are deeply concerned by the recent US presidential pardons for four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were convicted for killing 14 Iraqi civilians.
The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Marta Hurtado, said in the statement that “pardoning them contributes to impunity.”
Hurtado said the four individuals were given sentences ranging from 12 years to life imprisonment, including on charges of first-degree murder.
“By investigating these crimes and completing legal proceedings, the US complied with its obligations under international law. Victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law also have the right to a remedy.
BBC News
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image captionThe 2007 incident in Baghdad s Nisoor Square caused an international outcry
The UN has sharply criticised President Donald Trump s decision to pardon four former Blackwater contractors jailed over the killing of 14 Iraqi civilians.
Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard opened fire in Baghdad s Nisoor Square in 2007 while guarding an American diplomatic convoy.
The UN Human Rights Office warned that the pardons would serve to embolden others to commit similar crimes.
The father of a nine-year boy who died said Mr Trump broke my life again .
There was no immediate response from the Iraqi government.
Ali Yussef/Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday pardoned four men convicted in connection with a massacre of civilians in Iraq in 2007.
The Blackwater guards Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard opened fire in a busy section of Baghdad, resulting in the unjustified deaths of 14 civilians, including two children.
The youngest victim was a 9-year-old boy named Ali Mohammed Hafedh Abdul Razzaq.
A top Democratic senator decried the pardons as a disgrace, and an Iraqi man who was shot in the incident questioned why he bothered testifying against the men.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a slew of pardons, including those of four former Blackwater guards convicted of crimes associated with the 2007 killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including two children ages 9 and 11.
Trump pardon of Blackwater killers sparks outrage in Iraq
President Trump this week pardoned four Blackwater guards convicted in a 2007 massacre of Iraqi civilians. Shown from left are guards Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough.
(Associated Press)
AMMAN, Jordan
It was around noon in Baghdad on Sept. 16, 2007, when “Raven 23,” a four-SUV convoy and tactical support team for the private military company Blackwater, approached Nisoor Square.
Blackwater guards jumped out of the vehicles to stop traffic for a U.S. diplomatic team. At 12:08 p.m., Nicholas Slatten, the team’s sniper, began firing at a white Kia sedan.