Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations on Thursday urged the United States to probe the random shootings at Iraqi civilians by security contractors and hold them responsible.

    In its 11th report on Iraq's human rights, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) also urged the allied force in Iraq to take steps against the excessive use of force.

    Citing the killing of an Iraqi by U.S. security company Blackwater and another fatal shooting involving U.S. embassy's spokesperson's bodyguards, UNAMI urged "the U.S. authorities to investigate reports of deaths caused by privately hired contractors."

    The U.S. authorities should also "establish effective mechanisms for holding them accountable for where the circumstances surrounding the killing s show no justifiable cause," said the UNAMI report.

    In a latest and more bloody case, Blackwater, a major contractor responsible for safeguarding U.S. diplomatic personnel in Iraq, has been accused by the Iraqi government of unprovokedly opening fire and killing 17 Iraqis on Sept. 16.

    The Iraqi government is demanding a compensation totaling 136 million U.S. dollars and the trial of the Blackwater shooters in Iraq.

    "The US Government should take steps to ensure that offenses committed in Iraq by all categories of US contractor employees are subject to prosecution under the law," UNAMI said in the report.

    UNAMI, meanwhile, said it recorded 88 civilian deaths during multinational forces' air strikes along with other civilian casualties in ground operations of the allied force.

    It asked for through, prompt and impartial investigations of alleged "unlawful killings" by the U.S.-led troops and take appropriate action "against military personnel found to have used excessive or indiscriminate force," and publicize the findings.

    The U.S. House of Representatives last week approved a bill that would bring all U.S. government contractors in the Iraqi war zone under the jurisdiction of American criminal law.

    The Blackwater, established in 1997, is the biggest of the State Department's three private security contractors and has won government contracts worth more than 1 billion U.S. dollars since 2001.

    Blackwater has been involved in 195 shooting incidents since 2005, or roughly 1.4 per week, according to a report by the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

    "In the vast majority of instances in which Blackwater fired shots, Blackwater is firing from a moving vehicle and does not remain at the scene to determine if the shots resulted in casualties," said the report.

    The UNAMI report also warned of growing displacement due to "ongoing violence" in the war-torn nation.

    The report stated that civilians continue to be targeted by armed groups through suicide bombings, abductions and extrajudicial executions by perpetrators who make no distinctions between civilians and combatants.

    The report also emphasized UNAMI's concern regarding prolonged detention and the absence of timely processing of detainees' cases through the judicial system.