UN rights experts attached to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Wednesday condemned President Trump’s December 22 pardoning of four former Blackwater contractors, asserting that the pardons violated international law. The Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, Jelena Aparac, called the pardons an “affront to justice to the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families.” On September 16, 2007, Blackwater contractors in Nisour Square in Baghdad shot 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians dead and wounded at least 17 others in the wake of a car bomb explosion. The contractors were subsequently tried and variously convicted in US federal courts of murder, manslaughter and firearms offenses.

The Working Group statement noted that the United States is obliged under the Geneva Conventions to hold those convicted of war crimes accountable for their actions, and that President Trump’s pardons directly violate and contradict these obligations: “Ensuring accountability for such crimes is fundamental to humanity and to the community of nations . . . Pardons, amnesties, or any other forms of exculpation for war crimes open doors to future abuses when States contract private military and security companies for inherent state functions.”

The UN reaction is in stark contrast to White House remarks in the Press Secretary’s statement regarding clemency for the former Blackwater contractors, Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard, highlighting their service as veterans of the United States military. In that, Kayleigh McEnany called the Nisour Square incident “unfortunate” and questioned the veracity of the lead Iraqi investigator’s testimony.