U.N. wants security guards in Iraq to face law
Reuters
Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:15 PM ET
By David Clarke
Go to Original
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations wants probes to determine whether private security contractors in Iraq have committed war crimes and for governments to ensure that the rule of law is applied, U.N. officials said on Thursday.
The killing of 17 Iraqis in a shooting involving U.S. security firm Blackwater last month has created tensions between Baghdad and Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who are immune from prosecution in Iraq.
Ivana Vuco, the U.N.'s senior human rights officer in Iraq, told a news conference that private security contractors were still subject to international humanitarian law.
"Investigations as to whether or not crimes against humanity, war crimes, are being committed and obviously the consequences of that is something that we will be paying attention to and advocating for," she told a news conference.
Iraq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security companies in the country, with estimates of the number of private contractors ranging from 25,000 to 48,000.
The U.N. urged governments to make sure private security contractors were accountable for any unjustified killings.
Many Iraqis see security companies as little more than private armies which act with impunity. Iraqi authorities have accused Blackwater of "deliberately killing" the 17 Iraqis in last month's shooting, but the security firm says its guards responded lawfully to a threat against a convoy it was guarding.
A wounded survivor and relatives of three Iraqis killed in the Blackwater incident sued the firm in U.S. court on Thursday.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy group, said it filed the suit charging that Blackwater and its affiliates violated U.S. law in committing "extrajudicial killings and war crimes."
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for death, physical, mental and economic injuries, and punitive damages.
A government source has said Baghdad wants Blackwater to pay $8 million in compensation to each victim's family.
Launching the latest U.N. human rights report, which covers the period April through June, officials also stressed that the crisis caused by the displacement of Iraqis was getting worse and the human rights situation in general was "very grim".
A car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday wounded the traffic police chief, killed at least seven and wounded 49 others, police said.
Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to attack Iraqi police and Sunni Arab tribal leaders working with U.S. forces. There has been a spate of attacks on law enforcement officers and tribal leaders in northern Iraq this week.
"I heard a loud sound and I fell on the ground," said a 50-year-old Kurdish woman. "When I stood up I saw smoke, people screaming, and people on the ground either killed or wounded, people running."
U.S. BASE ATTACKED
Insurgents also launched a rare attack on a sprawling U.S. base in Baghdad late on Wednesday, firing nine mortar bombs or rockets into the compound. The attack killed two soldiers and wounded 38, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
The number of casualties is the highest in months from an attack on Victory, which houses the U.S. military's headquarters near Baghdad airport.
The U.S. military gave no details on the nationalities of any of the victims. Besides U.S. troops, small numbers of soldiers from other countries are based at Camp Victory.
This week two women were shot dead when their vehicle ventured too close to an armed convoy. The Australian-owned, Dubai-based security firm Unity Resources Group said the vehicle had ignored warnings to stop and its guards then opened fire.
"Definitely we will keep driving that point home time and again so different groups do not feel above the law in treating the populace," said Said Arikat, U.N. mission spokesman in Iraq. (Additional reporting by Dean Yates, Aseel Kami, Ross Colvin and Paul Tait)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Just-Off-The-Cuff has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Just-Off-The-Cuff endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:15 PM ET
By David Clarke
Go to Original
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations wants probes to determine whether private security contractors in Iraq have committed war crimes and for governments to ensure that the rule of law is applied, U.N. officials said on Thursday.
The killing of 17 Iraqis in a shooting involving U.S. security firm Blackwater last month has created tensions between Baghdad and Washington and sparked calls for tighter controls on private contractors, who are immune from prosecution in Iraq.
Ivana Vuco, the U.N.'s senior human rights officer in Iraq, told a news conference that private security contractors were still subject to international humanitarian law.
"Investigations as to whether or not crimes against humanity, war crimes, are being committed and obviously the consequences of that is something that we will be paying attention to and advocating for," she told a news conference.
Iraq says there are more than 180 mainly U.S. and European security companies in the country, with estimates of the number of private contractors ranging from 25,000 to 48,000.
The U.N. urged governments to make sure private security contractors were accountable for any unjustified killings.
Many Iraqis see security companies as little more than private armies which act with impunity. Iraqi authorities have accused Blackwater of "deliberately killing" the 17 Iraqis in last month's shooting, but the security firm says its guards responded lawfully to a threat against a convoy it was guarding.
A wounded survivor and relatives of three Iraqis killed in the Blackwater incident sued the firm in U.S. court on Thursday.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy group, said it filed the suit charging that Blackwater and its affiliates violated U.S. law in committing "extrajudicial killings and war crimes."
The suit seeks unspecified compensatory damages for death, physical, mental and economic injuries, and punitive damages.
A government source has said Baghdad wants Blackwater to pay $8 million in compensation to each victim's family.
Launching the latest U.N. human rights report, which covers the period April through June, officials also stressed that the crisis caused by the displacement of Iraqis was getting worse and the human rights situation in general was "very grim".
A car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk on Thursday wounded the traffic police chief, killed at least seven and wounded 49 others, police said.
Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to attack Iraqi police and Sunni Arab tribal leaders working with U.S. forces. There has been a spate of attacks on law enforcement officers and tribal leaders in northern Iraq this week.
"I heard a loud sound and I fell on the ground," said a 50-year-old Kurdish woman. "When I stood up I saw smoke, people screaming, and people on the ground either killed or wounded, people running."
U.S. BASE ATTACKED
Insurgents also launched a rare attack on a sprawling U.S. base in Baghdad late on Wednesday, firing nine mortar bombs or rockets into the compound. The attack killed two soldiers and wounded 38, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
The number of casualties is the highest in months from an attack on Victory, which houses the U.S. military's headquarters near Baghdad airport.
The U.S. military gave no details on the nationalities of any of the victims. Besides U.S. troops, small numbers of soldiers from other countries are based at Camp Victory.
This week two women were shot dead when their vehicle ventured too close to an armed convoy. The Australian-owned, Dubai-based security firm Unity Resources Group said the vehicle had ignored warnings to stop and its guards then opened fire.
"Definitely we will keep driving that point home time and again so different groups do not feel above the law in treating the populace," said Said Arikat, U.N. mission spokesman in Iraq. (Additional reporting by Dean Yates, Aseel Kami, Ross Colvin and Paul Tait)
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Just-Off-The-Cuff has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Just-Off-The-Cuff endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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posted by Rick | 4:55 PM
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