What Blackwater, Oklahoma, and the Extractive Sector Have in Common: U.S. National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights

Last week, four private security contractors to the U.S. Department of Defense were sentenced to extended prison terms for the gruesome shooting of 31 Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square, Iraq in 2007. The sentences come on the heels of the U.S Government’s third and penultimate consultation on the role of the government in ensuring that American corporations respect human rights abroad.

The consultation, held in Norman, Oklahoma, focused on private security as one of three primary issues of concern, alongside extractive industries and indigenous rights issues. While the State Department has taken steps to require its private security contractors to sign the International Code of Conduct and adhere to ICOCA standards, the commitment does not extend across government agencies. The Department of Defense, for example, does not require its defense contractors to belong to the ICOCA.

Participants at the Oklahoma meeting made clear that that should change.

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Kendyl Salcito is Executive Director, NomoGaia. Mark Wielga is a Director, NomoGaia.