Baghdad, January 03: Saying it was “astonished” by a US court’s decision to drop manslaughter charges against private security guards who were accused of killing 17 civilians caught up in a Baghdad traffic jam, the Iraqi government yesterday promised to continue its battle to secure justice for the victims of “people who like to shoot unarmed people”.
Wejdan Mikhail, the country’s Human Rights Minister, said she would now support efforts to bring civil charges against the Blackwater employees accused of firing automatic weapons and throwing hand grenades at cars negotiating a roundabout in Nisur Square just over two years ago.
A judge in Washington ruled late on Thursday that the high-profile case, which sparked allegations of a culture of lawlessness and unaccountability at Blackwater and other private security firms in Iraq, should be thrown out due to an apparent legal technicality.
–Agencies