The United Nations has criticized US President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon four security guards of Blackwater serving jail sentences for killing 14 civilians in Iraq.

UN Human Rights Office, (OHCHR), spokesperson Marta Hurtado, said in a statement that pardoning the four culprits for their part in the killings contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future.

President Trump announced the decision to pardon the men on Tuesday. A statement from the White House said that the four, all military veterans, had “a long history of service to the nation”, arguing the move reflected broad public sentiment in the US.