|
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, released the following statement today in response to news that the U.S. has agreed to eliminate immunity for private security contractors in Iraq. The Iraqi foreign minister announced today that the U.S. had agreed to remove immunity for private security contractors as part of the U.S.-Iraq security pact negotiations. The U.S. embassy in Iraq declined to comment on these negotiations.
“I am encouraged by news reports from Iraqi sources that the U.S. has agreed to lift the immunity for private security contractors working in Iraq. While I believe that private security contractors shouldn’t be performing inherently governmental functions in the first place, I am pleased that they may now be held accountable for any criminal actions under Iraqi law. This decision should not only apply to future incidents, but it should also apply to all of the previous incidents. For far too long, private military contractors have been able to operate with impunity. To this day, we still don’t know what U.S. laws apply to private security contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan. I hope that today’s news will force the Bush Administration to clarify which U.S. laws apply to private security contractors so that they may also be prosecuted under U.S. law.”
|
|
