Four American contractors and an Iraqi were arrested by Iraqi law enforcement officials earlier this week in Baghdad for their alleged role in the May 22 execution-style killing of another American contractor, inside Baghdad's Green Zone. If formally charged, the four will be the first Americans tried by the Iraqi judicial system in a move that could not only clarify the legal status of American contractors in Iraq, but also the extent to which Iraq has regained sovereignty.

Having been tipped off by the FBI, who maintained a presence at the scene of the arrest, Iraqi law enforcement officers raided a house, where they not only detained the men, but found weapons and drugs. An American diplomat who visited the men in prison said that they are doing well.

Sometime this week, the men will see a judge, who will decide whether or not there is enough evidence for charges to be levied. If the men are charged, they will be tried by a three judge-panel; there are no trials by jury in the Iraqi judicial system. However, one of the detained men's son believes that the men will soon be found to have not been involved.

Although Americans have been tried for crimes in Iraq since the Second Gulf War began, these trials occurred within the realm of the American criminal justice system. An American is yet to be tried in an Iraqi court. The possibility of a trial in Iraq thus marks “a big change,” according to Jon Tracy, assistant director of the National Institute of Military Justice at the Washington College of Law.

“[The charges] have come about because of the new Status of Forces Agreement,” Tracy said, referring to a change in the legal status of American forces in Iraq that took effect at the start of 2009. “Before the recent agreement, dating back to Paul Bremer's days, the Coalition Provisional Authority gave [Americans] a blanket immunity under Iraqi law.”

The new Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), however, isn't exactly a sturdy pillar of Iraqi sovereignty – the signing of the agreement sparked demonstrations against it in Iraq. Although complete immunity for American contractors has been withdrawn, only defense contractors are subject to Iraqi criminal law. Contractors working for other departments of the American government, including State Department contractors, still retain protection from prosecution. Many private military contractors are employed by the State Department.

Furthermore, the SOFA doesn't guarantee that American troops who commit crimes in Iraq will be tried by Iraqis, either. “They have to be off base, off duty and it has to be a serious offense,” Tracy explained. “It's a very narrow view — how often are U.S. soldiers [in Iraq] off duty?”

The limitations of the new SOFA agreement leave skeptics wondering if the case is not so much symbolic of Iraqi sovereignty as it is of the U.S. giving Iraqis power when it suits the American government. It is noteworthy that the first Americans who could be tried by Iraq courts are accused of killing an American, not an Iraqi.

Jim Kittering, 60, had worked in Iraq for several years. His murder was the first non-combat killing of an American in the Green Zone since the war began.

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