‘US pardons for convicted Blackwater guards an affront to justice’

Geneva, Dec 31 : US President Donald Trump’s pardoning of four private security company Blackwater guards convicted of committing a massacre in Iraq violated American obligations under international law and should be seen as “an affront to justice”, a group of UN experts said here.
In a statement on Wednesday, the UN experts also called on all states parties to the Geneva Conventions to condemn the pardons, reports Xinhua news agency.
On December 22, President Trump granted full pardons to 15 people, including the four Blackwater security guards — Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard — convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians.
The experts stressed that the Blackwater guards were prosecuted and convicted of multiple criminal acts committed during the 2007 massacre at Nisour Square, Baghdad.
“Pardoning the Blackwater contractors is an affront to justice and to the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families,” said Jelena Aparac, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries.
“The Geneva Conventions oblige States to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors. These pardons violate US obligations under international law and more broadly undermine humanitarian law and human rights at a global level,” she said.