The US House of Representatives announced on Thursday that it
has passed a bill to make all private security contractors in Iraq
and other combat zones subject to prosecution by US courts.
The bill was passed by voting 389 to 30 as the first major
legislation of its kind to be approved since the US Blackwater
security company was involved into a deadly shoot-out in September,
leaving at least 11 Iraqis dead.
"There is simply no excuse for the de facto legal immunity for
tens of thousands of individuals working in countries" on behalf of
the United States, said Democratic Representative. Sheila
Jackson-Lee.
Senate Democratic leaders said they planned to pass the law
quickly and send the measure to President George W. Bush to sign
into law.
The bill is aimed at filling out the vacuum in law to cover the
personnel abroad not hired directly by the military.
The current law, called the Military Extraterritorial
Jurisdiction Act, covers personnel supporting the mission of
Defense Department operations overseas but whether charges can be
brought against any of the contractors protecting State Department
officials such as Blackwater is unclear.
At the same time, US contractors are immune from prosecution by
Iraqi courts.
The White House Wednesday said they support the intent of the
bill, although it was poorly-drafted and could have "unintended and
intolerable consequences for crucial and necessary national
security activities and operations."
Blackwater founder Erik Prince told a House panel Tuesday that
he supports expanding the law.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently leading an
investigation into the Sept. 16 shoot-out by Blackwater employees
in Baghdad, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on
Thursday.
But he stressed that the step did not necessarily imply that the
investigation would result in criminal charges being brought
against the contractors.
The Blackwater, established in 1997, is the biggest of the State
Department's three private security contractors and has won
government contracts worth more than US$1 billion since 2001.
Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since
2005, or roughly 1.4 per week, according to a report by the House
Oversight and Government Reform Committee released on Monday.
"In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired
shots, Blackwater is firing from a moving vehicle and does not
remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in
casualties," said the report.
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(Xinhua News Agency October 5, 2007)
