IRAQ: Fighting Private Contractor Abuses on the Battlefield

The handcuffed Iraqi prisoner hit the ground with a thud as the American
abruptly yanked him out of the Humvee vehicle at Abu Ghraib prison. Before
the detainee knew what was happening he was dragged into an interrogation
room.

Dazed, but still conscious, the Iraqi tried to stand up. The American yanked
him hard again and the detainee dropped to the ground. Later, a U.S. army
sergeant in charge of the interrogation team challenged the man about how he
was dealing with the prisoners.

"I have been doing my job for 20 years and do not need a 20-year-old to tell
me how to do my job," responded the interrogator, described in a U.S.
military report only as "Civilian-05," an employee of CACI International.

The incident at Abu Ghraib sheds light on the secret world of interrogators
for hire, private security contractors who work for U.S. intelligence
agencies and the Pentagon. It also raises serious questions about just what
controls there are, if any, on such personnel.

According to the U.S. military investigation released last year, some of the
private contractors at Abu Ghraib threatened Iraqi prisoners with guard
dogs. A translator with another security company, Titan Corp., was alleged
to have raped a young detainee.

One contractor, working for CACI International, directed the activities of
military guards "setting conditions which were neither authorized and in
accordance with applicable regulations/policy. He clearly knew his
instructions equated to physical abuse," another Pentagon report concluded.

And while U.S. soldiers have been found guilty and sentenced to jail for
their involvement in the Abu Ghraib scandal, the private security
contractors have faced no charges or punishment.

Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, a legal adviser for the International Committee of
the Red Cross, argues private security contractors must obey humanitarian
and human-rights laws. Under international regulations they can also be
charged with violations of local laws as well as murder or crimes against
humanity by either their own countries or the nations they operate in, the
Red Cross maintains.

But actually imposing international or domestic law on such individuals or
firms is often difficult, if not impossible. Peter Singer, an analyst with
the Washington-based Brookings Institution, says the main problem is private
security companies operate in nations that are in upheaval so local legal
systems may be non-existent or not functioning properly to deal out justice.

There are other roadblocks as well. Two years ago the Coalition Provisional
Authority, the caretaker administration set up by the U.S. to oversee Iraq,
gave foreign security contractors immunity from Iraqi law. Instead, the CPA
ruled the justice system of the contractor's home country would be used to
prosecute any crimes.

Kim Girtel, a spokeswoman for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department, says
Canadians working as security contractors overseas would be required to
follow any international and domestic laws. But, Canada does not have any
specific laws aimed at the private security industry or such individuals.

Ms. Girtel noted that only a few countries have put in place such
regulations. "It's sort of very early on the debate in all of this," Ms.
Girtel said. "Right now part of the problem is that, to date, everything has
been pretty ad hoc."

But, observers point out the legal systems in the U.S., Canada and other
nations are not actively monitoring what their citizens are doing in Iraq.
At the same time most prosecutors, already overloaded with domestic cases,
don't have the resources to investigate crimes committed overseas.

In the case of Abu Ghraib, the Bush administration is in no rush to revisit
that scandal by seeing private contractors charged, said Mr. Singer, author
of the book Corporate Warriors, a study of the private military industry.

In October, the U.S. Defence Department brought in new regulations to
improve the controls it has over contractors providing services on the
battlefield, as well as when such security personnel can carry weapons. It's
unclear, however, just how effective the rules will be in dealing with
issues of accountability and the legal status of contractors involved in
incidents of wrongdoing.

So far, there is only one prosecution of alleged abuse by a security
contractor. David Passaro, who worked for the CIA in Afghanistan, is
awaiting trial in North Carolina for his involvement in the beating death of
a detainee, Abdul Wali, in the summer of 2003. Mr. Wali, who turned himself
in to U.S. forces after being told they wanted to question him about a
rocket attack on Americans, died after being held in custody for two days.
In the indictment filed in North Carolina, the prosecution alleges Mr.
Passaro repeatedly beat Mr. Wali with his feet, his hands and a flashlight.

In other cases, it has taken whistleblowers to shed light on alleged
financial wrongdoing by contractors. Last September, the Pentagon suspended
the security firm, Custer Battles, headed by two former special forces
soldiers with connections to the Republican party, from bidding on
government work after allegations surfaced the company defrauded tens of
millions of dollars on Iraq security contracts.

In a lawsuit, two of the firm's former employees allege the company received
$15 million to provide security for civilian flights at Baghdad Airport even
though no planes ever landed during the period of the contact. The lawsuit
also contains allegations the company submitted fake invoices and billed for
equipment that never existed. The total amount of money defrauded is
estimated to be around $50 million.

The international nature of their work, the fact the U.S. is at war with
terrorists, or the claim that contractors were simply following orders from
the Pentagon, is the defence often cited by security companies when they run
into legal problems. Lawyers for Custer Battles argue that since their
clients are alleged to have defrauded Iraqi, and not American funds, the
case should be thrown out of U.S. courts.

CACI International has responded to the Abu Ghraib charges by noting its
interrogators worked under the supervision of the U.S. military. The company
said it conducted an internal investigation and found no evidence of abuse.

Mr. Passaro's lawyer contends that since the alleged beating of Mr. Wali
took place overseas it is outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. He also
argues Mr. Passaro was protecting the nation and should not be prosecuted
since he was following orders from President George W. Bush's administration
to defend America against terrorists.

In June 2004, eight Iraqis filed a federal lawsuit against CACI and Titan,
alleging they were tortured during interrogations. The Iraqis, however, face
an uphill battle to win their lawsuit since their interrogators were wearing
hoods at the time of the alleged incident.

Previous attempts to bring private contractors to court have also been
blocked by the U.S. government or the companies themselves.

In April 2001, a CIA surveillance plane, operated by employees of Aviation
Development Corp., directed Peruvian air force jets to shoot down what was
thought to be a drug-smuggling aircraft. In reality, the plane was carrying
an American missionary family and the attack killed one woman and her baby.
No charges were ever brought against the ADC employees.

In 1999, employees of DynCorp, a Fortune 500 private security company, were
involved in sex assaults, prostitution and child sex abuse in the Balkans.
DynCorp fired the employees who blew the whistle on the abuse and flew the
workers involved in the incidents out of the former Yugoslavia before they
could be arrested.

The scandal didn't hurt DynCorp financially. It has been awarded
multi-million dollar contracts to provide bodyguards for Afghan president
Hamid Karzai, as well as supply 1,000 advisers to rebuild Iraq's police and
legal system.

Iraq's private security scene has also been a magnet for former soldiers
linked to human-rights abuses and other crimes. There are an estimated 1,500
ex-South African soldiers in Iraq, a number of them former members of the
country's special forces and counter-terrorism units that targeted
anti-apartheid groups.

Deon Gouws, who served in a South African secret police unit and admitted
his involvement in assassinations of political leaders and bombings aimed at
anti-apartheid activists, was employed with the British security firm
Erinys. Last April, South African contract soldier, Gray Branfield, 55, was
killed in fighting in the eastern Iraq city of Kut. The former special
forces operative had previously admitted to being part of an assassination
team that killed a high-profile anti-apartheid campaigner.

Derek Adgey, who spent time in jail for his involvement with the Ulster
Freedom Fighters, a Northern Ireland paramilitary group involved in murder,
drug-trafficking and arson, found work with ArmorGroup, another British
security company operating in Iraq.

Last year, Democratic party officials, including Senate minority leader Tom
Daschle, wrote U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with a warning about
the growing security industry. They argued the U.S. military should be doing
the missions now handled by the companies. In July, the Government
Accountability Office, the U.S. version of Canada's auditor general,
released a report highlighting the lack of standards for contractor
personnel, suggesting the situation had led to the hiring of unqualified
security staff.

But Doug Brooks, who heads an association representing companies providing
security, logistics and other services, said his members have developed
their own code of conduct, which respects human rights and ensures all
personnel are properly trained and vetted for past criminal activity.

The industry is interested in co-operating with government officials,
lawmakers and academics in devising additional ways to ensure accountability
and transparency, said Mr. Brooks, president of the U.S.-based International
Peace Operations Association. One method could involve having observers
assigned to the firms in the field, something Mr. Brooks believes companies
would be comfortable with. Another possibility is bringing contractors under
the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

"I think the industry is far more willing than people portray it to work
with policy makers and academics to come up with some solutions to these
transparency and accountability issues that pop up," adds Mr. Brooks.

On the international scene he estimates it will take 20 to 30 years before
such rules are in place.

The Brookings Institution's Mr. Singer said many companies are in favour of
clear guidelines for the industry, but at the same time they don't want to
have to deal with too much regulation. "In an ideal world we'd have an
international law for this, but if we're being honest that will take years,
if not decades, if not (for)ever," adds Mr. Singer.

Some companies aren't waiting. In September, CACI, whose employees were
involved in the Abu Ghraib scandal, said it would no longer be providing
interrogation specialists as part of the services it offers to militaries.

Soldiers of Fortune: Canadians at work in the war on terror

Defence writer David Pugliese has spent the past two years painstakingly
building the trust needed to tell the stories of Canada's soldiers of
fortune. His search took him from the dangerous terrain of the Filipino
island of Mindanao, where the war on terror is employing private soldiers,
to Nova Scotia and Edmonton, where the families of two slain Canadians live.
This powerful series details a growing business in an ever-more terrorized
world.

• 174 War & Disaster Profiteers Campaign