US President Donald Trump’s issuance of pardons for security guards convicted of killing at least 14 Iraqi civilians in a 2007 Baghdad massacre has caused international uproar, including in Iraq where people expressed outrage and sadness.
Trump issued pardons for the four Blackwater security contractors who were convicted of murder and manslaughter six years ago.
They were a part of an armoured convoy of vehicles escorting United States embassy officials that opened fire at a crowd of unarmed Iraqi civilians in an incident that came to be known as the Nisour Square massacre.
The deadly September 2007 shooting marked one of the lowest points of the US-led invasion of Iraq, and came just years after the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s Foreign Ministry said the move did not “take into account the seriousness of the crime committed”, and urged the US to review its decision.
The pardons came at a delicate moment for the Iraqi leadership, which is trying to balance growing calls by some Iraqi factions for a complete US troop withdrawal from Iraq with what they see as the need for a more gradual drawdown.
“The infamous Blackwater company killed Iraqi citizens at Nisour Square. Today we heard they were released upon personal order by President Trump, as if they don’t care for the spilled Iraqi blood,” said Saleh Abed, a Baghdad resident.
“I knew we’d never get justice,” Fares Saadi, the Iraqi police officer who led the investigations, told AFP news agency.
A former classmate of a medical student killed at the time called the pardons “an utter outrage” but said they were not surprising.
“As far as they are concerned, our blood is cheaper than water and our demands for justice and accountability are merely a nuisance,” the classmate said, requesting anonymity.
The United Nations’ human rights office said on Wednesday that it was “deeply concerned” by the pardons, which it said “contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future”...
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