Iraq takes steps to 'bring Blackwater to justice'

WASHINGTON - A US judge Thursday dismissed all charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards in the 2007 shooting deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
US District Judge Ricardo Urbina found prosecutors wrongly used statements the guards had given under duress, according to media reports.
The September 2007 shootings in a Baghdad square provoked increased tension between the United States and Iraq, and resulted in restrictions on contractors hired by the powerful Blackwater, now known as XE, and other firms.
Urbina said the government’s case relied mainly on “statements compelled under a threat of job loss in a subsequent criminal prosecution” in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Justice Department, which had not responded, can appeal Thursday’s ruling or seek new indictments against the men, CNN said.
During the Baghdad shootings, Blackwater said its contractors were being attacked, but Iraq officials claimed their gunfire erupted unprovoked.
The five guards had been indicted in Washington a year ago on manslaughter and weapons charges. Prosecutors had asked last month that charges be dropped against one of the men. Thursday’s ruling throws out all the charges.
A sixth guard pleaded guilty last year to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.
AFP adds: Iraq said on Friday it had begun taking steps to “bring Blackwater to justice” over the deaths of 14 civilians in 2007, one of the bloodiest incidents involving a private security firm here.
A decision Thursday by a US court to drop the charges against five Blackwater security guards accused of the deaths has unleashed anger in Baghdad, where a cabinet minister expressed astonishment.
“The Iraqi government has started to take the necessary measures to bring Blackwater to justice for the killing of 17 Iraqi citizens,” government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement.
He did not detail on what specific measures were being taken but he had earlier said an Iraqi investigation had shown that the five guards were responsible for the deaths of the civilians.
Human Rights Minister Wejdan Mikhail told AFP she was “astonished” by the decision to dismiss the criminal charges against the five.
“There was so much work done to prosecute these people and to take this case into court and I don’t understand why the judge took this decision,” she said.
US federal judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges against the five, saying prosecutors violated their rights by using incriminating statements they had made under immunity during a State Department probe.