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| Brothers Ameer (l.) and Ahmed Raed lost their best friend, cousin, and band mate, Ahmed Haythem al-Rubaie, in a Sept. 16 shooting
in Baghdad involving Blackwater USA. Sam Dagher |
In contractors' shootings, Iraqis search for justice
The US Embassy in Iraq is now offering to pay relatives of those killed in a shooting involving Blackwater USA.
from the October 25, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
Mr. Rubaie wrote to Mr. Maliki asking the prime minister to take up the case. "I asked the Iraqi government for justice. I said we will only be respected by others if our own government protects and values us," he says. "Justice must be served. Just the way human life is dear in their countries, we want it to be the same here."
Oversight of security firms
The pressure that is being brought by the victims' families and the Iraqi government appears to be pushing the US State Department to reconsider oversight of firms that it contracts to protect its employees. Currently they have immunity from prosecution in Iraq, a policy instituted by L. Paul Bremer, head of the former US-led occupation authority until June 2004.
The State Department director of management policy, Patrick Kennedy, who is tasked with reviewing the department's own security practices in Iraq and who was recently in Baghdad, presented Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday with a final report containing some 19 recommendations.
Mr. Kennedy told reporters Wednesday that these include formalizing the requirement, which was already put in place after the Sept. 16 shooting, of having agents from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security accompany each convoy and installing video recording, audio, and tracking equipment inside the vehicles.
The report also calls for tightening the rules for the use of deadly force and requiring private contractors, such as Blackwater, to undergo training to enhance their "cultural awareness" and to hire Arabic language-speaking staff.
The main point of contention between the Iraqis and the Americans is the immunity enjoyed by private contractors, a policy commonly referred to by Iraqis as Mr. Bremer's "Order 17," as it was the 17th order of his administration here.
US officials are asking Maliki to delay any action against Blackwater until the FBI completes its investigation and a recently created Iraqi-US joint commission, which met for the first time Oct. 7, reviews the results and makes recommendations on the overall status of private security companies in Iraq.
"Blackwater guards committed an unjustified crime in cold blood intended to kill as many Iraqis as possible," says Sami al-Askari, a senior adviser to Maliki. "The American side says it needs much more time … but the prime minister wants them [Blackwater] to leave now. They must leave."
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