Cuban foreign minister condemns Donald Trump's pardons to criminals

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28 December 2020

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Havana, Dec 28 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Monday condemned the pardons granted recently by President Donald Trump to US military contractors involved in assassinations in Iraq.

The pardons granted to war criminals hired by the United States as mercenaries describe both the perpetrators and the government that hires them and pardons them, the head of Cuban diplomacy wrote on Twitter.

On December 22, Trump granted presidential pardons to a score of people, including four members of the military private company Blackwater who were involved in the assassinations of 14 civilians in Iraq in 2007. One of them, Nicholas Slatten was serving a life sentence.

Those contractors opened fire and launched explosives at a crowd to open the way for a military convoy, killing 14 civilians and injuring 17 people.

The United Nations Human Rights Office condemned the pardons, claiming that they 'contribute to impunity and have the effect of encouraging others to commit such crimes in the future'.

The Iraqi Government also criticized the decision for ignoring the seriousness of the crimes committed and the values of human rights, justice and the rule of law, as well as the dignity of the victims and the sentiments of their relatives.