U.S. Congress and administration consider responses to excessive uses of force by U.S. security firms.

• Author: Crook, John R.

A September event--in which security guards employed by the U.S. security firm Blackwater Worldwide, working under contract to protect Department of State personnel, killed seventeen Iraqi civilians at Nisoor Square in Baghdad--has drawn wide attention in both the United States and Iraq. The Baghdad killings have led the administration and Congress to confront legal questions relating to U.S. jurisdiction over the activities of private security contractors working for the U.S. government.

Both Iraqi and U.S. investigators reportedly have concluded that the guards' firing was unprovoked and unjustified (1) Their actions are immune from Iraqi criminal jurisdiction, however, under the terms of Coalition Provisional Authority Order No. 17, issued by the authority's head, Paul Bremer, in 2004, (2) and their legal status under U.S. law is unclear. (3) The killings provoked strong reactions by Iraqi officials, as well as concern in the U.S. Congress and administration. In congressional hearings, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice faced critical questioning and expressed regret that the State Department had not provided adequate supervision of its security contractors.

Congressional Action. In October, the U.S. House of Representatives, by a vote of 389 to 30, voted to approve extension of U.S. criminal jurisdiction to private security guards and other U.S. government contractors' employees who commit serious offenses. Under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, adopted in 2000, Department of Defense contractor personnel are already subject to U.S. criminal jurisdiction for major offenses committed overseas. (5) The House-passed legislation, the "Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Expansion and Enforcement Act," (6) would similarly extend U.S. federal criminal law to major offenses committed by other U.S. government contractors working in combat zones. (7)

The administration has opposed the House bill, warning, inter alia, that it would place undue burdens on U.S. military forces and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Office of Management and Budget also threatened unspecified but "intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national security activities" should it be enacted. (8) As of this writing (mid-December 2007), the prospects for Senate action and ultimate approval are not known.

Possible Justice Department Prosecution. U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors are reportedly examining possible criminal prosecutions...