Judge Upholds Charges Against Blackwater Guards
Tuesday, February 17, 2009; 3:04 PM
A federal judge today refused to toss out charges against five U.S. security contractors accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in a busy Baghdad square in 2007.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina came in an early legal challenge brought by defense attorneys representing the guards, who worked at the time for Blackwater Worldwide. The guards' attorneys had argued the government didn't have jurisdiction to bring the charges.
The guards were indicted in December on charges of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and using a firearm in a crime of violence in the controversial shooting in bustling Nisoor Square in September 2007. The government says the guards killed 14 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others in a salvo of bullets and grenade explosions. Prosecutors have said the guards unleashed an unprovoked attack on the civilians.
The charges were brought under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) of 2000, which allows U.S. prosecutors to charge American service members, their family members and those employed by the military for illegal acts committed overseas.
A 2004 amendment expanded MEJA to cover those working "in support" of Defense Department missions, a provision that prosecutors argue covers security contractors, such as Blackwater, working for the State Department in Iraq.
1 comment:
While mercenary, violence for profit corporation Blackwater has changed its name to some allegedly cool, two-character element from the periodic table (Xe), their mission and worldview remains the same. Their contract with the State Department is good until May 2009, they're still positioned on our Mexican, US land and oceanic borders in hopes of gaining that sole source border militarization contract I'm sure they're lobbying for (go Womble Carlisle!), and they're training both military and civilian personnel on how to ignore rules of engagement and take full advantage of excessive deadly force (see Blackwater Worldwide testing combat shotgun AA-12 for the U.S. Armed Forces). And don't forget Blackwater is in Afghanistan and likely in Pakistan as well.
Despite owning and operating their own intelligence company, there was sheer stupidity on their part when they failed to do their homework to find out that they'll likely be sued for trademark infringement (see Defensive Domain Registrations: Blackwater vs. XE.com). Would you hire these guys to do your corporate intelligence and spying? Prospective customers beware!
A Stop Blackwater Conference will be held from April 24-27, 2009 in Stockton, Illinois.
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