Trump’s Blackwater pardons ‘an affront to justice’: UN experts

US President Donald Trump’s pardons of four Blackwater contractors convicted of killing civilians in a 2007 Baghdad massacre is a violation of United States obligations under international law, UN experts said on Wednesday.

“The Geneva Conventions oblige states to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors,” Jelena Aparac, head of the United Nations working group on the use of mercenaries, said in a statement.

“These pardons violate US obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level,” she said.

“Ensuring accountability for such crimes is fundamental to humanity and to the community of nations.”

#Blackwater: The pardons granted to four convicted private security contractors for war crimes in #Iraq violate #US obligations under international law, UN experts say. They call on all States parties to the Geneva Conventions to condemn the pardons 👉 https://t.co/N37RIKLkO5 pic.twitter.com/Kh771RZQDN

— UN Special Procedures (@UN_SPExperts) December 30, 2020

Trump granted pardons to the guards on December 22 among a slew of other controversial pardons before he leaves office next month.

The four were convicted of opening fire in Baghdad’s crowded Nisour Square on September 16, 2007, in a bloody episode that caused an international scandal and heightened resentment of the American presence.

The shooting killed at least 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 17 while perpetuating the image of US security contractors run amok.

The Blackwater guards said they acted in self-defence in response to rebel fire.

“Pardoning the Blackwater contractors is an affront to justice and to the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families,” Aparac added.

The working group, consisting of five independent experts who are appointed by the UN but who do not speak on behalf of the body, warned on Wednesday that countries have an obligation to hold convicted war criminals to account.

“Pardons, amnesties, or any other forms of exculpation for war crimes open doors to future abuses when states contract private military and security companies for inherent state functions,” the statement said.

The working group voiced deep concern at the practice of permitting private security contractors to “operate with impunity in armed conflicts”.

This, they warned, could encourage countries to “circumvent their obligations under humanitarian law by increasingly outsourcing core military operations to the private sector”.