The Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad in 2007 is one of the most horrific crimes of American security companies operating in Iraq, which revealed the US courts ’disregard for Iraqi blood when they did not punish the perpetrators of the massacre despite the cases filed against them.

On this day in 2010, the Iraqi Interior Ministry decided to expel 250 members of the American security company Blackwater, and the Iraqi decision came in response to the acquittal by the American court of 5 Blackwater individuals accused of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007, before resuming their trials at a later time.

Al-Bayati: The security companies that entered Iraq are cruel and do not hesitate to kill (Al-Jazeera)

Security mercenaries

After 2003, Iraq became open to many security companies and others, so Blackwater entered into a contract with US forces, according to security expert and former officer Sarmad Al-Bayati.

He explained to Al-Jazeera Net that the duty of this company is to protect diplomatic figures, but its problem is that it relies on retired and mercenary officers, who have fought wars in various countries of the world, and its main concern is money.

Al-Bayati added that the elements of these companies are characterized by cruelty and the execution of murder, recalling what they did in Nisour Square, when they claimed that they were ambushed and prepared 17 Iraqi civilians, while the area could not have any ambush, because it is close to important official circles.

An Iraqi looks at a burnt car at the scene of the massacre in Nisour Square (French - Archive)

The Eagles Massacre

According to writer and analyst Bahaa Khalil, what Blackwater did in Nisour Square was like a killing party, which is contrary to what is applied in security companies.

And he added to Al-Jazeera Net, that the company’s personnel could have - even if they really felt in danger - not to use lethal force, and contented with wounding the person and neutralizing him.

He notes that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation acknowledged that out of a total of 17 civilian deaths, 14 people were killed without any reason.

Khalil testifies about one of the Blackwater crimes that took place in front of his eyes in Al-Salam neighborhood in Baghdad, where they killed a 9-year-old boy, who was sitting in the front of the car with his father.

Academic and political researcher Fadel Al-Badrani tells Al-Jazeera Net how Blackwater agents targeted him when they shot his car in which he was traveling in one of the western regions of Iraq, but he survived the accident.

Khalil described the Blackwater crime in Nisour Square in Baghdad as a "killing party" (Al-Jazeera)

Formal trials

On October 11, 2007, a formal case was filed in an American court against Blackwater concerning the Nisour Square incident on behalf of the Iraqi victims, but the court concluded that the company's guards were at the time enjoying immunity, according to international politics professor Dr. Khader Abbas Atwan.

He added to Al-Jazeera Net that the matter was re-investigated based on the existence of the wrong legal viewpoint in the conditioning of the incident by the previous court, and the judgment was issued in October 2014, charging 4 of the guards with premeditated murder, another was sentenced to life imprisonment, and 3 others Sentenced to 30 years.

Al-Badrani points out that they were show trials, as evidenced by the fact that they have resumed several times, and the procedures for reducing sentences continued until the arrival of former US President Donald Trump, who announced their release in a manner that represented a disregard for human rights.

And he assures Al-Jazeera Net that the Iraqis have lost confidence in the American judiciary, because it is politicized, and the massacre represents a stain on the face of the American administration.

For his part, the researcher on Iraqi affairs, Raad Hashem, blames this incident on the Iraqi government, because in the early existence of this company the government was unable to control and resolve the issue and deal with it with the American side.

He adds to Al-Jazeera Net that the subsequent Iraqi governments did not demand the rights of the victims, as changing the name of the company does not forfeit the right to statute of limitations.

Al-Badrani considered that the trial of the Blackwater operatives was a show trial and courtesy (Al-Jazeera)

Back with a new mask

In the wake of the Al-Nisour incident, the Iraqi government demanded Blackwater to immediately stop its operations in Iraq temporarily, according to Atwan.

He adds that after several investigations, Iraq asked the company in February 2010 to exit the country, with the exception of those involved in the accident who were to be held accountable.

The company did not exercise security functions in Iraq until Legislation No. 52 was issued, which regulates the work of security companies within its territory, at the beginning of 2017.

Atwan reveals that Iraq agreed to register a company under the name (Frontier Logistics Consultancy) based in the UAE according to the document (Company Registration Department, Ministry of Trade, number 5228 on February 8, 2018), which is a subsidiary company associated with Frontier Services Group, based in Hong Kong and owns branches In several countries, this group belongs to (Eric Dean Prince) owner of Blackwater.

He explains that after tracking the company's links, it turned out that it represents a reproduction of Blackwater under the cover of a new name. Blackwater, the latter being prosecuted by criminal charges.

Al-Tamimi: Trump's decision to release the perpetrators of the Nisour Square massacre was dominated by politics and emotion (Al-Jazeera)

Trump pardon

Regarding the decision Trump took last December to release the perpetrators of the Nisour Square massacre, legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi says that it is a decision that is dominated by politics, emotion and exclusivity, and it violates the bilateral agreement between Iraq and America in 2008, Article 28, which stipulated that there be cooperation Judicial, economic and political in all fields.

In his speech to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Tamimi points out the possibility of Iraq objecting to the United Nations, and the current US administration to reconsider this wrong decision.

Meanwhile, Hashem considered Trump's pardon of those imprisoned in this case a provocative decision that angered the Iraqis and did not care about the rights of the victims.

And he demanded that the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs work to activate this file and move it in order to serve its Iraqi citizens who died in the Nisour Square massacre.