The United Nations condemns Trump's pardon for Americans sentenced to kill Iraqis

United Nations - SANA

The United Nations has expressed grave concern over the decision to pardon US President Donald Trump for 4 former members of the American "Blackwater" company convicted of killing 14 civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

The spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Marta Hurtado, called on the United States to renew its commitment to combating impunity for gross violations of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as fulfilling its obligations to ensure accountability for these crimes.

Hurtado pointed out that the four had been sentenced to sentences ranging from 12 years to life, including for first degree intentional murder, warning that pardoning them contributes to impunity and leads to encouraging others to commit such crimes in the future.

Trump had pardoned a number of those convicted of killing fourteen Iraqis and wounding others in 2007, in an incident that condemned the international community, as well as the internal disapproval and rejection it left behind.

Hurtado emphasized that victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law have the right to demand compensation, and this includes the right to see perpetrators serving sentences commensurate with the gravity of their behavior.

The mercenaries from the American "Blackwater" company, known for its black record in committing murders against Iraqi civilians, opened fire randomly on Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in Baghdad on September 16, 2007, killing 14 people and wounding 17 others.