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	Closing the Loophole: Private Military Contractors and Rights Violations by Margaret Maffai Jurist   Oct 2009   The American public and—to some extent—lawmakers snapped to belated attention in September of 2007 when a small force of private military contractors opened fire on a busy Baghdad traffic square, killing at least 14 civilians and wounding 20 more. A year later, the US Justice Department dutifully brought charges against the six shooters; Blackwater changed its name to Xe Services; and founder Erik Prince resigned amid some truly bizarre accusations including the murder of a whistleblower, a crusade to wipe out Muslims, arms smuggling, and a secret contract with the CIA to assassinate Al-Qaeda leaders. So that’s it, right? Renegade mercenaries brought to justice, the poster child for shadowy military corporations is no more, and the square-jawed, ex-Navy SEAL quietly ducked out of the CEO seat. Justice served. Problem solved.   Not exactly. Though most lawmakers and American citizens recognize, at least on a rational level, that Blackwater is not the beginning and end of the problem of private military and security companies (PMSCs), the indictment of the six gunmen implicated in the Nisour Square shooting seemed to bring a collective sigh of relief…and subsequent legislative stagnation. In truth, contractors are not unique to the Iraq War. They are not unique to the United States. They are not even unique to this century.   Rather, PMSCs, operate in every corner of the globe, performing every conceivable support function from food service to infrastructure construction, to building security, to human resources management, to policing, interrogation, and intelligence. States have gradually surrendered their abilities to self-sufficiently perform their responsibilities in the areas of national defense and security in favor of employing private forces. Yet the international community and the individual national governments that employ contractors seem content to ignore this growing threat to human rights and state sovereignty, or at least pretend the threat has abated..   * Visit the link below to access the complete story. Visit the related web page
	No cause can justify such inhuman and indiscriminate violence by AFP / Associated Press & agencies Pakistan   Oct 28, 2009   Car bomb kills 86 in Pakistan market. (AFP & agencies)   A car bomb tore through a packed market in Peshawar on Wednesday, killing 86 people among the dead and trapping casualties under pulverised shops.   The explosion detonated in a crowded street in the Meena Bazaar of Peshawar, one of the most congested parts of the northwest city, sparking a huge blaze and ending in carnage routine shopping trips for scores of people.   "We have received 86 dead bodies, 213 people were injured, there are children and women, we are facing a shortage of blood," Doctor Hamid Afridi, head of the Peshawar"s main Lady Reading Hospital told AFP.   A hospital official outside the casualty wing spoke of harrowing scenes. "There are body parts. There are people. There are burnt people. There are dead bodies. There are wounded," said Doctor Muslim Khan.   The area was one of the most congested parts of Peshawar and full of women"s clothing shops, toy shops and general market stalls popular in the city of 2.5 million. " This is the most congested area of the city," Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a senior local administrative official, told TV channel Express.   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the bombing of a crowded marketplace in the Pakistani city of Peshawar that has killed more than 80 people and injured at least 160 others, the latest in a series of deadly attacks targeting civilians across the country.   “I want to express my outrage at the loss of so many innocent lives,” Mr. Ban told a press conference, describing the bomb attack as appalling. Mr. Ban noted that many of the victims of the bombing were women. “No cause can justify such inhuman and indiscriminate violence,” he said, extending his condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims.   On 9 October at least 50 people died after a suicide blast in Peshawar and a separate bombing a week later in the same city killed 12 others. Deadly explosions and gun attacks have also been recorded in other major cities across Pakistan this month, including the national capital, Islamabad.   Oct 5, 2009   Attack on UN Food Program office in Pakistan harms the people most in need.   A suicide bomber has struck the lobby of the U.N. food agency"s Pakistan headquarters Monday, killing five people.   The attack threatens to hamper the work of the UN World Food Program (WFP) and other aid agencies working to assist millions of vulnerable Pakistanis.   Hours after the attack, the world body said it was closing its offices in Pakistan temporarily. Medical officials at two hospitals said five people had been killed in the attack, including an Iraqi working for the agency. Two of those killed were Pakistani women. Several others were injured, two of them critically, the WFP said in a statement. “This is a terrible tragedy for the UN and for the whole humanitarian community in Pakistan,” Mr. Ban said in a statement issued in Geneva. “This is a heinous crime committed against those who have been working tirelessly to assist the poor and the vulnerable on the frontlines of hunger and other human suffering in Pakistan,” he added.   WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran expressed her deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the staff members who were killed or injured in the attack. “All of the victims were humanitarian heroes working on the frontlines of hunger in a country where WFP food assistance is providing a lifeline to millions. This is a tragedy – not just for WFP – but for the whole humanitarian community and for the hungry,” she stated.   The UN Resident Coordinator in Pakistan, Fikret Akcura, said there is no possible justification for this “shocking” crime against humanitarian workers.   WFP is providing vital food assistance to as many as 10 million people across Pakistan, including emergency relief to as many as 2 million Pakistani civilians who were displaced by conflict in the Swat Valley region earlier this year.   The agency also supports school meal programmes and targets food assistance at vulnerable groups of people across the country.   * Below is a link to the ICRC reference page on International Humanitarian Law and Terrorism. Visit the related web page
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