Lawsuit now accuses Xe contractors of murder, kidnapping
A just-amended lawsuit alleges six additional instances of unprovoked attacks on Iraqi civilians by Blackwater contractors.
Three people, including a 9-year-old boy, are said to have died.
Also added to the suit is a racketeering count accusing Blackwater founder Erik Prince of running an ongoing criminal enterprise involved in, among other things, kidnapping and child prostitution.
Related material:
Xe-Blackwater Personnel Shot Iraqi Children, Others in Multiple Incidents, According to Burke O’Neil LLC
WASHINGTON, July 1 /PRNewswire/ — A spate of unprovoked civilian shootings by Xe-Blackwater personnel in Iraq between 2005 and 2008 are detailed in an amended lawsuit filed late Tuesday in Virginia federal court, according to the Washington, D.C. law firm that represents the families of those killed and wounded in the incidents.
The new allegations against several Blackwater-related defendants – now operating as Xe and other names under the control of chairman Erik Prince – include:
- the shooting of three Iraqi families in a mini-van that killed nine-year-old Akram Khalid Sa’ed Jasim and wounded his three-month-old sister, who was shot in the face, his mother, his father, and uncle in July 2007;
- the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Suhad Shakir Fadhil as she was driving home from work in the so-called Green Zone in February 2007;
- the shooting of Maulood Mohammed Shathir Husein, a 31-year-old married professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Baghdad in August 2005;
- the fatal shooting of 65-year-old Khalis Kareem Ali Al Qaysi, who was killed while he was being driven in Baghdad in March 2005;
- the severe beating of 35-year-old Iraqi photographer Safeen Hameed Ahmed Qadir in April 2008 as he took photographs at a Ford automobile branch in the Arbil province that was visited by a U.S. diplomat, and;
- the shooting of Husam Hasan Jaber, who was driving three passengers in Baghdad in a taxi cab he owns and operates.
The Iraqi families are represented by Burke O’Neil LLC, of Washington, D.C.
Susan L. Burke, of Burke O’Neil LLC, stated, "The staggering number of civilian deaths in Iraq caused by Erik Prince-controlled companies reflects the pattern and practice of recklessness in their use of deadly force. We believe the evidence will show that these mercenaries deployed by Prince and his companies have flouted the laws of the United States and their host nation Iraq."
The lawsuit, as first filed in April, alleged that three guards for the state-owned and operated Iraqi Media Network – Sabah Salman Hassoon, a 38-year-old married father of three; Azhar Abdullah Ali, a 33-year-old married father of three; and Nibrass Mohammed Dawood, a 25-year-old – were shot at the rear gate of the network as they tried to move along a slowing car in the King Faisal Square traffic circle on Feb. 7, 2007. The circle separates the Iraqi Media Network and Iraqi Justice Ministry, where Blackwater "shooters" were perched on the roof during a meeting involving a U.S. diplomat.
The amended lawsuit names several Blackwater-related defendants including Prince, Samarus CO LTD, Prince Group LLC, Xe Services LLC (formerly EP Investments LLC and d/b/a Blackwater Worldwide), Greystone Ltd, Total Intelligence Solutions LLC, Xe Services LLC, U.S. Training Center, Inc. (formerly Blackwater Lodge and Training Center, Inc.), GSD Manufacturing LLC (formerly Blackwater Target Systems), Blackwater Security Consulting LLC, and Raven Development Group LLC.
Xe-Blackwater is accused of committing war crimes, assault and battery, wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, training and supervision, and tortious spoliation of evidence.
The lawsuit also alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). According to the complaint, Prince "has created an enterprise that has engaged in a series of illegal acts that suffice as RICO predicate acts extending over a substantial period of time beginning at least in 2003." The RICO allegations include murder in February 2005, December 2006, February 2007, August 2007, September 2007, and May 2009; kidnapping; destruction of audio and videotaped evidence; distribution of controlled substances (steroids); tax evasion; and weapons smuggling. According to the complaint, "The Prince RICO Enterprise continues to exist, continues to engage in repeated illegal acts, and poses a grave and special threat to the social well-being of the world."
Burke added, "We intend to seek a court order that requires Prince to divest himself of any direct or indirect interest in the Prince RICO Enterprise or dissolve the Prince RICO Enterprise after making due provision for the rights of innocents, imposes reasonable restrictions on Prince’s future activities or investments, and prohibits Prince from engaging in any mercenary or private military business."
The case is "Estate of Sabah Salman Hassoon, et al., v. Xe, formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide, et al.," in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Civil Action No. 1:09 cv 618).
Attorney Contact: Susan L. Burke, of Burke O’Neil LLC, Washington, D.C., 202.445.1409.
Media Contact: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks LLC, for Burke O’Neil LLC, 281.703.6000.
SOURCE Burke O’Neil LLC: Xe-Blackwater Personnel Shot Iraqi Children, Others in Multiple Incidents, According to Burke O’Neil LLC
The latest charges, filed this week in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, bring to more than 60 the number of Iraqis allegedly killed or wounded since 2005 by armed Blackwater contractors guarding U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq.
The Moyock, N.C.-based security company, since renamed Xe, earned more than $1 billion under that contract before the State Department, under pressure from the Iraqi government, let it lapse in May.
One of the new plaintiffs is the estate of Akram Khalid Sa’ed Jasim, 9, who died when Blackwater shooters allegedly opened fire on a minivan returning from the Baghdad airport on July 1, 2007. The boy was traveling with his extended family, who had gone to the airport to apply for passports.
The Blackwater guards also shot the boy’s mother in the back as she bent over trying to shield her 3-month-old daughter, who nevertheless was shot in the face, according to the lawsuit. The boy’s father, uncle and cousin also were wounded.
The racketeering count added to the suit this week accuses Prince’s companies of engaging in murder, weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, kidnapping, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence.
The companies are accused of carrying out three or more kidnappings using three airplanes, identified in the suit by their tail numbers. Susan Burke, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, said Wednesday that the kidnappings appear to have been so-called "extraordinary renditions" in which suspects are taken to other countries for interrogation.
The child prostitution charge involves young Iraqi girls allegedly being brought to the Blackwater compound in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, identified in the lawsuit as the "Blackwater Man Camp," to provide oral sex to contractors for $1.
The purpose of the racketeering allegations is to demonstrate a "pattern of illegality" by Xe and its affiliated companies, Burke said.
If the court rules against Xe on the racketeering count, it could dissolve the company or place restrictions on its future activities.
"What we’re very, very worried about is this company hurting other people going forward around the globe," Burke said. "They’re moving into Africa, they’re moving into other places, and we believe they need judicial supervision."
Anne Tyrrell, a Xe spokeswoman, said the company "rejects these allegations, which are largely identical to past allegations made by the same group of attorneys in other, unrelated cases."
Lawsuit now accuses Xe contractors of murder, kidnapping | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com
If the majority of Americans can be made to see that Iraq is an illegal occupation.And that the fundamentalist right wingers from George Bush to Erik Prince are war criminals then perhaps we can begim to rebuild the USA’s standing in the world. These lawsuits are critical to getting to the bottom of the huge oogoing criminal conspiracy that was /is the Iraqi occupation . Just wanted to wish all those involved in these various lawsuits God Speed -many ,many Americans – are praying for your success.