Iraqi families sue Blackwater
2007-10-11 17:24
Washington - A US rights group announced on Thursday it was filing a lawsuit against private security contractor Blackwater on behalf of a survivor and the families of three victims of a deadly September 16 shootout in Baghdad.
The Centre for Constitutional Rights said the suit in a Washington federal court accuses Blackwater of murder and war crimes and seeks unspecified damages.
Filed by Talib Mutlaq Deewan and the estates of three men killed - Himoud Saed Atban, Usama Fadhil Abbass and Oday Ismail Ibraheem - the suit claims Blackwater "created and fostered a culture of lawlessness amongst its employees, encouraging them to act in the company's financial interests at the expense of innocent human life," the centre said in a statement.
Lawyer Susan Burke said: "This senseless slaughter was only the latest incident in a lengthy pattern of egregious misconduct by Blackwater in Iraq.
"At the moment of this incident, the Blackwater personnel responsible for the shooting were not protecting State Department officials. We allege that Blackwater personnel were not provoked and that they had no legitimate reason to fire on civilians," she added.
An Iraqi government report released on Sunday said 17 people died in the unprovoked shooting and 22 were wounded when Blackwater guards opened fire on civilians in Baghdad in the Nisoor square on September 16.