|
|
Article: Private security contractors in Iraq violate laws of war.
- Article from:
- Suffolk Transnational Law Review
- Article date:
- December 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Suffolk University Law School. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
I. INTRODUCTION
When private security contractors killed eleven Iraqis in a shootout in Baghdad, the Iraqi Prime Minister called it criminal. (1) Security contractors called it "by doctrine," meaning they returned fire in order to protect their lives and their client. (2) A United Nations group called them mercenaries. (3) In any case, the murky legal status of private military contractors had legal commentators calling them something else: immune from prosecution. (4)
This Note argues that private military contractors can be held liable for their actions under the jus cogens of unlawful civilian combatants. (5) Part II places private military contractors in their ...