U.N. report cites war crimes by private contractors

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) issued a report Thursday calling for the United States government to prosecute private security contractors accused of killing civilians, stating that indiscriminate civilian killings amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity. An uproar of criticism surrounds two high-profile incidents in which scores of Iraqi civilians were shot by private contractors acting on diplomatic security detail. In one case, the Australian firm, Unity Resources Group, was tied to the deaths of two Iraqi women who approached a USAID convoy. Another case involved the deaths of 17 Iraqi's following an IED attack near a State Department convoy escorted by the security firm, Blackwater USA.

The U.N. report calls for an investigation into human rights violations, stating it would “look into whether or not crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed.” The report highlights the increasingly vague nature of the role private contractors play, blurring the distinction between civilians and combatants. Ivana Vuco, a human rights officer with UNAMI, said that international law applies equally to lawful combatants as it does to all others involved in conflict. “There cannot be rogue elements that are above the law,” Vuco said. The report continued to note that “all categories of U.S. contractor employees” are subject to prosecution.

But Iraqi law, as established under the Coalition Provisional Authority, states that contractors are immune from prosecution. Order 17, issued by L. Paul Bremer III, grants immunity from Iraqi law in exchange for prosecution of crimes in U.S. military courts. Yet, the legal status of contractors remains ambiguous. On one hand, contractors are not part of the military and therefore are not accountable to the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice but to civilian laws. On the other hand, security contractors are part of the force package and Iraqi, and cannot be held accountable under civilian laws. In 2006, Senator Lindsay Graham amended the UCMJ to include contractors, but this too remains unclear as firms like Blackwater USA provide security to civilian agencies and are not integrated into defense forces. Furthermore, prosecuting civilian contractors is hampered by environmental issues. A typical civilian would rely on an intact crime scene to provide evidence, but in the case of Iraq, that is something of a luxury. Proceeding under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which extends civilian laws to civilians supporting combat operations, may prove the ultimate avenue for examination.

The Iraqi government threatened to pull Blackwater USA's operating license following the deaths of 17 Iraqi's, however, the contractors continue to provide security detail to the State Department.

AP/NYT