Blackwater guards indicted for 2007 Baghdad civilian killings.

• Author: Crook, John R.

In December 2008, (1) the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of five guards employed by Blackwater USA, all U.S. citizens and former service members, on multiple counts of voluntary manslaughter and other offenses for their role in a September 2007 shooting incident at a Baghdad traffic circle involving the death or wounding of thirty-four Iraqi civilians. (2) The guards were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA), which was amended in 2004 to extend to non- Defense Department contractors providing services "in support of the mission of the Department of Defense overseas." The defendants are also charged with weapons offenses under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, (3) which prescribes mandatory minimum 30-year sentences for using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence. The defendants' attorneys dispute application of the MEJA to Blackwater employees, because the company was operating under contract with the Department of State. (4)

The deaths at Nisur Square led to widespread outrage in Iraq (5) and increased the pressure to deny U.S. government contractors immunity from Iraqi criminal jurisdiction in the recently concluded status-of-forces agreement between the United States and Iraq. (6) Excerpts from the Department of Justice news release announcing the indictments follow:

A 35-count indictment was unsealed today in the District of Columbia charging five Blackwater security guards with voluntary manslaughter, attempt to commit manslaughter, and weapons violations for their alleged roles in the Sept.16, 2007, shooting at Nisur Square in Baghdad, Iraq. The defendants are charged with killing 14 unarmed civilians and wounding 20 other individuals. In addition, a sixth Blackwater security guard pleaded guilty on Dec. 5, 2008, to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for his role in the Sept. 16, 2007, shooting at Nisur Square. This guilty plea was also unsealed today. .... ... Each of the defendants is charged with 14 counts of voluntary manslaughter, 20 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter, and one count of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. .... The indictment represents the first prosecution under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA) to be filed against non-Defense Department private contractors, which was not possible prior to the 2004 amendments to MEJA that specifically expanded the...