Nisour Square massacre
The Nisour Square massacre occurred on September 16, 2007, when employees of Blackwater Security Consulting (now Constellis), a private military company contracted by the US government to provide security services in Iraq, shot at Iraqi civilians, killing 17 and injuring 20 in Nisour Square, Baghdad, while escorting a U.S. embassy convoy.[1][2][3] The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States.[4] In 2014, four Blackwater employees were tried[5] and convicted in U.S. federal court; one of murder, and the other three of manslaughter and firearms charges;[6] all four convicted were controversially pardoned by President Donald Trump in December 2020.[7][8] U.N. experts said the pardons "violate U.S. obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level”.[9]
Nisour Square massacre
Nisour Square, Baghdad, Iraq
September 16, 2007
12:00 pm (UTC+03:00)
17
20
Blackwater contractors
- Dustin Heard (pardoned)
- Evan Liberty (pardoned)
- Nicholas Slatten (pardoned)
- Paul Slough (pardoned)
- Jeremy Ridgeway
Slatten:
First-degree murder
Heard, Liberty, Slough:
- Voluntary manslaughter (14 counts)
- Attempted manslaughter (20 counts)
- Weapons violation
Ridgeway: (1 count each)
- Voluntary manslaughter
- Attempted manslaughter
- Aiding and abetting
Slatten:
Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
Slough:
15 years in prison
Liberty:
14 years in prison
Heard:
12+1⁄2 years in prison
Ridgeway:
1 year and 1 day in prison
Blackwater guards claimed that the convoy was ambushed and that they fired at the attackers in defense of the convoy. The Iraqi government and Iraqi police investigator Faris Saadi Abdul stated that the killings were unprovoked.[10][11] The next day, Blackwater Worldwide's license to operate in Iraq was temporarily revoked.[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".[14] The Iraqi government vowed to punish Blackwater.[15] The incident sparked at least five investigations, including one from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[16] The FBI investigation found that, of the 17 Iraqis killed by the guards, at least 14 were shot without cause.[17]
Reactions from Iraqis[edit]
Baghdad resident Halim Mashkoor told AP Television News, "We see the security firms ... doing whatever they want in the streets. They beat citizens and scorn them. ... [I]f such a thing happened in America or Britain, would the American president or American citizens accept it?"[46] Hasan Jaber Salman, a lawyer who was one of the wounded, said that "no one did anything to provoke Blackwater" and that "as we turned back they opened fire at all cars from behind"[61] An Iraqi police officer who was directing traffic at the scene said Blackwater guards "became the terrorists" when they opened fire on civilians unprovoked, while a businessman said he wasn't seeking compensation but only "the truth" from the guards.[62] After a group of Iraqi ministers backed the Iraqi Interior Ministry's decision to shut down Blackwater USA's operations in Iraq,[29] Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on the U.S. government to end its contract with Blackwater[39] and called on Blackwater to pay the families $8 million in compensation.[63]
A U.S. judge's decision to dismiss all charges against Blackwater on January 1, 2010, sparked outrage in the Arab world.[64]
Actions against Blackwater[edit]
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates testified before Congress that the Pentagon has sufficient legal authority to control its contractors, but that commanders lack sufficient "means and resources" to exercise adequate oversight.[12] On October 4, 2007, the U.S. House passed a bill that would make all private contractors working in Iraq and other combat zones subject to the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act[65]
and thus prosecution by U.S. courts.[41] Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass similar legislation as soon as possible.[41]
Richard J. Griffin, the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, who made key decisions regarding the department's oversight of private security contractor Blackwater USA, resigned in November 2007, after a critical review by the House Oversight Committee found that his office had failed to adequately supervise private contractors during the Blackwater Baghdad shootings.[66] Howard Krongard, who was appointed Inspector General of the U.S. State Department in 2005,[67] resigned in December 2007 after he was accused by the House Oversight Committee of improperly interfering with investigations into the Blackwater Baghdad shootings.[68][69]