Blackwater Guards Sentenced For Role in Nisoor Square Shooting

By Lyndsey Kelly
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

 

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America – U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth sentenced former Blackwater security guard Nicholas Slatten to life in prison and three others, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard to 30-year terms for their roles in a 2007 shooting hat killed 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisoor Square, after being convicted in October.

Photo of Nicholas Slatten leaving the Federal Courthouse in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy of MSNBC).

Judge Lamberth announced the sentences after a daylong hearing at which defense lawyers have argues for leniency and presented character witnesses for their clients. The defense argued, saying decades-long sentences would be unconstitutionally harsh for men who operated in a war-torn environment. Prosecutors described the shooting as an unprovoked ambush of civilians and said that the men have not shown any remorse or taken responsibility for their part in the incident. Lamberth stated, “based on the seriousness of the crimes, I find the penalty is not excessive.”

Families of the victims spoke in favor of harsh sentences, including Mohammad Kinani Al-Razzaaq, whose 9-year-old son was killed in the incident. Al-Razzaq demanded that the court show Blackwater “what the law is.”

However, it is unlkely that the sentencing hearing will be the last for these men. Even before the trial began, defense lawyers identified issues, which would form the basis of an appeal, including whether there was proper jurisdiction to charge the defendants in the first place.

The men were charfed under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which covers overseas crimes of Defense Department civilian employees, military contractors and others who are supportingthe American war mission. The defense argues that the Blackwater defendants worked as State Department contractors and were not military.

 

For more information, please see the following:

AL JAZEERA – Blackwater Guards Sentences in 2007 Shooting – 13 April 2015.

MSNBC – Ex-Blackwater Guards Hit With Lengthy Prison Sentences – 13 April 2015.

US NEWS – Blackwater Guards Who Slaughtered 14 Iraqis Get 30 Years, Life – 13 April 2015.

Pope’s use of “Genocide” is Praised by Armenians and Condemned by Turks

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East 

 

Vatican City, Rome

On Sunday Pope Francis held Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica, he used the term “genocide” to refer to the death of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed in the former Ottoman Empire in 1915. The Mass was held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the events and the leaders of the Armenian Church and the Armenian President attended the Mass. The Pope stated that the events of 1915 involving the Armenian people are widely considered to be the first genocide of the 20th century. The Pope’s use of the term “genocide” has sparked political uproar in Turkey who strongly denies the allegations of genocide.

The Pope during the 100th anniversary Mass, side by side with leaders of the Armenian Church. (Photo curtesy of Yahoo News)

The Turkish President condemned Pope Francis for describing the events of 1915 as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey claims that the deaths in 1915 were the result of unrest and civil war during a very turbulent time in Turkey and the World. The Turkish government has also claimed the death toll numbers have been inflated. In response to the Pope’s statements the government of Turkey has recalled its ambassador to the Vatican for consultation. The Turkish Ambassador claimed that this does not mean the end of diplomatic ties with the Vatican. Rather, that consultation is necessary for the ambassador after an event the Turkish government does not approve of.

On the other hand, the Armenian government praised the Pope for his statements in support of their cause. Armenia believes that Turkey is out of touch with the rest of the world and that the term genocide is widely used to refer to the events of 1915. The President of Armenia praised the Pope saying his statements act as a powerful message to the international community.

Pope Francis is not the first Pope to use the term “genocide” to refer to the events of 1915. Pope John Paul II authored a joint declaration with the leader of the Armenian Church in 2001 stating the deaths were considered the first genocide of the 20th century. Pope Francis took John Paul’s statements further, issuing them on the 100th anniversary, in the presence of Armenian political and religious leaders and urged the international community to recognize the events as a genocide.

For more information, please see:

The Associated Press — Turkey Recalls Ambassador over Pope’s Armenia Genocide Words — 12 April, 2015 

CNN News — Pope Francis Uses “Genocide” to Refer to Mass Killings of Armenians by Turks — 13 April, 2015 

Yahoo News — Erdogan “Condemns” Pope Over Armenian Genocide Comment — 14 April, 2015 

U.S. News and World Report — Pope’s Armenian Genocide Comments Anger Turks — 12 April, 2015 

VDC: The Weekly Statistical Report

VDC: Awaiting Verdict on Prominent Human Rights Activists in Syria

United Nations Calls for More Humanitarian Aid to North Korea as Regime Clamps Down on Aid Workers

By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch, Managing Editor

PYONGYANG, North Korea – The United Nations has called $111 million in aid to fund crucial humanitarian needs in the country. The United Nations estimates that about 70% of the North Korean people are food insecure and one third of children under the age of five years old are stunted. North Korea “is both a silent and under-funded humanitarian situation,” Ghulam Isaczai, the United Nations resident coordinator for North Korea, said in a statement released last Wednesday. “Protracted and serious needs for millions of people are persistent and require sustained funding.” The call for additional funding comes as the North Korean regime cracks down on foreign aid organizations operating inside the secretive state. On Wednesday, the reclusive State’s propaganda news service announced the deportation of aid worker Sandra Suh, a United States citizen, accusing her of engaging in acts of propaganda against the state. It was the second deportation of an aid worker in less than two months after a German aid organization announced one of its workers was expelled in February.

The Need for aid remains high in North Korea, where 70% of the state’s people live in a state of food insecurity while regime insiders live in obscene wealth. (Photo courtesy of Deutsche Welle)

The Korean Central News Agency claimed Suh had “engaged in anti-DPRK propaganda abroad with photos and videos about the DPRK she secretly produced and directed, out of inveterate repugnancy toward the DPRK.” Timothy Park, who accompanied Suh to North Korea, said the allegations were without basis. Suh has been named in the media as the founder of Los Angeles-based Wheat Mission Ministries.

Despite the regimes apparent crackdown on foreign aid workers the North Korean people remain desperate for humanitarian aid as the state continues to fail to meet their basic needs. According to the United Nations latest report on North Korea, Children in rural areas and those in institutions such as nurseries, kindergartens and orphanages have little access to water and sanitation contributing to the spread of waterborne diseases. About 25 percent of North Korea’s 24.62 million people still have no access to essential health services.

According to the economist Marcus Noland, North Korea could close the food gap and end food insecurity in the country with less than two-tenths of one percent of national income or one percent of the regimes military budget. The Kim Jong-un regime is known to be spending six times that of the United Nations latest appeal for aid to North Korea on luxury goods as North Korea’s elite regime insiders continue live in obscene wealth while most people go hungry.

For more information please see:

Deutsche Welle – Expulsions Hinder Foreign NGO Activities in North Korea – 13 April 2015

The Diplomat – North Korea Clamps Down On Foreign Aid Groups – 13 April 2015

Reuters – U.N. Calls For $111 Million for Crucial Aid for North Kore – 9 April 2015

The Wall Street Journal – North Korea Deports U.S. Aid Worker – 8 April 2015