By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – Since it began its private security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the former Blackwater Company has received great scrutiny for its policies. Its corporate executives have been questioned by the United States Congress and by humanitarian organizations throughout the world.  Today, one of the company’s greatest controversies was answered. A federal District Court Judge dismissed all criminal charges against five Blackwater employees stemming from a 2007 incident in Iraq.

Since the 2007 incident, Blackwater has changed its name to Xe Services. It provides private security services and support personnel to the United States government. Their employees have worked in both the conflict in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan. Xe Services employees are normally former members of the different branches of the United States military. The company has been questioned for some of its policies and practices since receiving contracts from the United States government. For example, Xe Services has been accused of providing active service in certain raids by the CIA. This went against its contract with the CIA to provide only support services in a protective role. At the time of the 2007 incident, Blackwater was under contract to provide security for State Department officials in Iraq.

The five Blackwater employees were supposed to go on trial in one month for the allegedly criminal actions they took in 2007. According to prosecutors, while patrolling the Nisour Square in downtown Baghdad on September 16, 2007, the five employees opened fired and killed unarmed Iraqi civilians. A later F.B.I. investigation found that fourteen or the seventeen Iraqi’s that were killed during the incident were unarmed and the employees use of force was unjustified. Military investigators agreed with the F.B.I.’s assessment and stated that their actions were criminal. Blackwater and its five employees defended themselves stating that they fired on insurgents who first fired upon the employees. The Iraq government wanted to try the employees for murder in Iraq.

After an investigation by the State Department, the Justice Department brought manslaughter charges against the five employees. However, Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the manslaughter charges today in a ninety page ruling. The main reason cited by the Judge for dismissing the case was prosecutorial misconduct. According to the opinion, the five employees were initially questioned by State Department officials after the incident. Those investigators promised the employees that their statements would only be used for an internal State Department investigation and could not be used in a later criminal prosecution.  Despite the promise of immunity, prosecutors used the statements to obtain evidence and search warrants in building a case against the employees. Nevertheless, Judge Urbina’s ruling did not discuss who was at fault in the killings of the seventeen Iraqis. The Justice Department can appeal Judge Urbina’s ruling.

For more information, please see:

MSNBC – Judge Tosses Blackwater Shooting Charges – 31 December  2009

NYTIMES – Judge Drops Charges From Blackwater Deaths in Iraq – 31 December 2009

LATIMES – Blackwater Joined CIA Raids in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sources Say – 11 December 2009

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon condemned Iran’s use of violence against protestors on Sunday (PHOTO: Washington TV)

OTTAWA, Canada – Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon condemned Iran for attacks against protestors on Sunday, December 27. He expressed Canada’s concern for Iran’s use of violence against those who were simply utilizing their right to freedom of expression and added that he was particularly concerned that the crackdown occurred during a religious holy day.

In a public statement Cannon said “The government of Canada condemns the use of brutal violence by Iranian security forces and once again calls upon Iran to meet its human rights obligations.” He further said, “The people of Iran deserve to have their voices heard and to enjoy the rights to which they are entitled without fear of violence and intimidation.”

The violence occurred on Sunday during Ashura, a holy day of mourning on the Shia calendar. Iranian security forces attacked demonstrators in Tehran who were protesting against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the Supreme Leader in Iran.

Police attacked using tear gas and batons killing at least eight and arresting some three-hundred protestors. Among the dead was Ali Mousavi, the nephew of the leader of the reformist movement Hossein Mousavi. It has been reported that he died from a gunshot wound.

Iran’s state-sponsored television news had originally put the death toll at fifteen in Tehran but has since claimed only eight protestors were killed. They claim that many of them were members of “anti-revolutionist terrorist groups.” Police have denied any responsibility for the deaths and a senior police official denied any allegations that the police used firearms during the crackdown.

Canada has been joined by other countries in denouncing the crackdown in Iran. Among those denouncing the violence were the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

For more information, please see:

Guardian.co.ck – Opposition Leader’s Nephew Among the Nine Dead Amid Rioting and Bloodshed in Iran – 28 December 2009

Press TV – West Condemns Iran Protest Crackdown -28 December 2009

Washington TV – Canada Condemns Violence Against Protesters in Iran – 28 December 2009

By William Miller

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

Picture of The Tamil migrants aboard the ocean lady last October (PHOTO: CTV.com)

VANCOUVER, Canada – Narindar Kang, a lawyer representing the seventy-six Tamil migrants found aboard a cargo ship last October, has said that about fifty of the migrants will be released from custody and will be allowed to settle with family already residing in Canada. According to Kang, immigration officials have already cleared about twenty-three of the detained migrants for release and are currently working to clear as many as two dozen more. All the migrants will be released subject to strict conditions.

The migrants were taken into custody in October when they were found aboard the Ocean Lady off the coast of British Columbia. Authorities have confirmed initial suspicions that the group was comprised of Tamil Refugees fleeing persecution which came in the wake of a twenty-six year long civil war in Sri Lanka.

The government has been apprehensive to release the migrants and grant them refugee status because of fears that some of the migrants may be members of the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers are a military unit which fought in the Sri Lankan Civil War. The Canadian government recognizes the group as a terrorist organization because of their use of suicide bomber tactics.

Kang has adamantly denied that the migrants he represents are associated with any terrorist group. He said “Many of these young men are highly educated professionals … Once time passes and people come to know (this, they will realize) they never posed a threat and those individuals certainly should have been released a long time ago.”

Migrants who are released will have to comply with strict conditions. They will be required to post bonds ranging between 2,000 and 10,000 dollars. They will also be required to report to immigration officials on a weekly basis and to not associate with any terrorist group, particularly the Tamil Tigers.

All seventy-six of the Migrants found aboard the Ocean Lady have made claims for refugee status. Information as to why the remaining migrants are not being released has not been provided either to the detainees nor their lawyers. Most of those being released are expected to settle with family in the Toronto and Montreal arias. They are expected to be released some time next month.

For more information, please see:

Canadian Press – Up to 50 Tamil Migrants in BC Soon to be Released Immigration Lawyer – 26 December 2009

CTV.com – 50 Detained Tamil Migrants to be Released: Lawyer – 26 December 2009

CBC News – More Tamil Migrants Set for Release – 24 December 2009

By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – In its first Christmas Eve vote since 1895, the United States Senate passed a reform bill that will change the health care system in the United States. The bill will provide health care coverage to millions of Americans that are uninsured now.

The Senate passed the health care bill along party lines. The final tally of the vote was sixty to thirty-nine. All fifty eight Democrats and two Independents voted to send the bill to the Conference Committee with the House of Representatives. The Senate version of the health care bill is similar in some aspects to the version passed earlier by the House. However, there are some notable differences between the two pieces of legislation.

The Senate version of the health care reform bill will cost approximately $871 billion dollars. The House version of the bill costs approximately one trillion dollars. Both costs would be paid over a period of ten years. Under the Senate version of the health care reform bill about fifteen million more people would be added to the health insurance rolls.

Under both the Senate version of the bill and the House version of the bill, approximately thirty million more people would have health insurance. Both versions would prevent suppliers of health insurance from denying people coverage because of pre-existing condition. Insurers would be barred from increasing interest rates because of a person’s gender or past medical history. Both versions of the health insurance bill would make it easier for small businesses and the unemployed to purchase coverage.

Nevertheless, there are major differences between the two pieces of legislation. The most revealing difference between the two versions is that the House has a public option while the Senate does not. The public option is something that the Democrats have fought hard for since taking the majority in both the House and the Senate. Another striking difference between the two versions is how health insurance reform is going to be paid. Under the House version, those people making five hundred thousand dollars or more per year and those families making more than a million dollars a year will pay a five point four income tax surcharge. Under the Senate bill, health insurance companies would be subject a forty percent tax when they only offer the most premium plans that only the wealthy could afford.

For more information, please see:

CNN – Senate Approves Health Care Reform Bill – 24 December 2009

MSNBC – Senate Passes Historic Health Care Legislation – 24 December 2009

NYTIMES – Senate Passes Health Care Overhaul on Party-Line Vote – 24 December 2009