Trump draws international condemnation after pardoning child killers

Donald Trump

Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten, who worked for government contractor Blackwater, killed 14 innocent and unarmed civilians in Baghdad, including two children.

Marta Hurtado, spokesperson for the UN human rights office OHCHR, said the decision to pardon the four “contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future”.

The men were part of a team guarding a US diplomatic convoy, and according to the US Justice Department at around noon on 16 September 2007, they opened fire at the busy roundabout, believing, they said, that they were coming under attack.

Of the 14 victims hit, 10 were men, two were women, and two were boys aged nine and 11. At the time, the killings were condemned around the world.

In 2014, a US federal court found the men guilty of murder in one case, while three were convicted of voluntary manslaughter, attempted manslaughter and other charges.

One of the four now pardoned, one was sentenced to life in prison and the others received 30-year terms, but after appeals and two retrials for one of the men – sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2019 – three of them had their sentences reduced to between 12 and 15 years.

Ms Hurtado said: “By investigating these crimes and completing legal proceedings, the US complied with its obligations under international law. Victims of gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law also have the right to a remedy.

“This includes the right to see perpetrators serve punishments proportionate to the seriousness of their conduct.”

She urged the US “to renew its commitment to fighting impunity for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as to uphold its obligations to ensure accountability for such crimes”.

Trump has also pardoned a number of former political allies and is expected to announce more controversial pardons as he approaches the end of his term as president, The Guardian reports.