[81][80] The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's fractured per curiam decision first found that Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act authorized the prosecutions, over the partial dissent of Judge Janice Rogers Brown. [24] According to this account, the security team fired warning shots and then lethal fire at the Kia.

The report found that the use of contractors such as Blackwater was a "new form of mercenary activity" and illegal under international law; however, the United States is not a signatory of the 1989 UN Mercenary Convention banning the use of mercenaries. The Maduro government did not respond to a request for comment.

", Available for everyone, funded by readers. They beat citizens and scorn them. [28] The banning was described by P. W. Singer, an expert on the private military industry, as "inevitable", given the US government's reliance on and lack of oversight of the private military industry in Iraq.

A spokesman for Prince, Marc Cohen, said this month that Prince “has no plans to operate or implement an operation in Venezuela” and declined to answer further questions. Black River Security Portland: Betsy Devos Brother’s Blackwater Security Firm. 3", is named Paul Slough. FBI scientists couldn't match bullets from the square to guns carried by the Blackwater guards and FBI investigators found foreign cartridge cases of a kind not used by U.S. or Blackwater personnel. [42] A spokesman stated that the ban would last for the duration of the investigation, and that it would not be permanent. [36] Several Iraqi and American investigations have been or are being conducted into the incident. BlackwaterUSA.com is a blog used for commentary and news reporting about private military contractors (Not to be confused with the origibal Blackwater) PMC BLOG. Founded by the former US Navy Seal Erik Prince, Blackwater seized on the burgeoning private security contracts that emerged after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. [55], On April 1, 2009, the Associated Press reported that forensic tests on bullets were inconclusive. Home; Contact us; BLACKWATER USA.COM. [72] The disputed evidence included statements the guards were compelled to give to State Department investigators. The report found that the guards fired their weapons 195 times from the beginning of 2005 through the second week of September 2005.

[49], An Interior Ministry spokesman said Iraqi authorities had completed their investigation into the shooting and concluded that Blackwater guards were responsible for the deaths.

The two sources with direct knowledge of Prince’s Venezuela plan said he was seeking $40 million from private investors. [1][2][3] The killings outraged Iraqis and strained relations between Iraq and the United States. [84], Last edited on 23 September 2020, at 12:10, Private Security Company Association of Iraq, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security, Inspector General of the U.S. State Department, Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, "U.S. "[75], On April 22, 2011, a federal appeals-court panel revived the Justice Department's prosecution of the former Blackwater Worldwide guards accused. Slatten faced a potential sentence of life in prison. None of the bullets the lab had available could be matched to the rifles used by the guards. [70] A sixth Blackwater guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and aiding and abetting. [64], On September 24, 2007, the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior announced it would file criminal charges against the Blackwater staff involved in the shooting, although it is unclear how some of them will be brought to trial. Former Blackwater security contractor sentenced to life in Iraq shootings; In all, 10 men, two women and two boys, ages 9 and 11, were killed. One of the Blackwater employees involved was convicted of murder in December and three others have been convicted of manslaughter. courts. [21] A new trial was also recommended for Slatten, on the grounds that it was unjustifiable to try him with his co-defendants, and that he should have been tried separately.