Baghdad , Iraq ( CNN ) -- Iraq said Friday that it will file a lawsuit against five Blackwater security guards cleared of manslaughter charges in the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians , an act a government official called murder . The Iraqi government also will ask the U.S. Justice Department to appeal a federal judge 's `` unfair and unacceptable '' dismissal of the charges Thursday , spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said . An Iraqi man wounded in the 2007 incident also voiced his anger Friday , saying U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina 's dismissal of the charges showed `` disregard for Iraqi blood . '' Urbina found Thursday that prosecutors wrongly used the guards ' own statements against them . `` We were expecting that American justice system is fair and independent , '' said Hassan Jaber Salman , a lawyer . `` It 's clear that the justice system in America is unjust and unfair . '' Al-Dabbagh said `` investigations carried out by specialized Iraqi authorities unequivocally found that the Blackwater guards committed murder and broke use-of-force rules when there was no threat requiring the use of force . '' The September 16 , 2007 , bloodbath in Baghdad 's Nusour Square , which also left two dozen wounded , led Iraq 's government to place limits on security contractors hired by Blackwater and other contractors . Blackwater has since changed its name to Xe . The Blackwater employees were guarding a State Department convoy in western Baghdad when the shooting began . The company said its contractors came under attack , but Iraqi authorities called the gunfire unprovoked and indiscriminate . Urbina found that the government 's case was built largely on `` statements compelled under a threat of job loss '' during a State Department investigation of the shootings , violating the Fifth Amendment rights of the five men charged . `` In their zeal to bring charges against the defendant in this case , the prosecutors and investigators aggressively sought out statements the defendants had been compelled to make to government investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and in the subsequent investigation , '' Urbina wrote in a 90-page decision . Federal prosecutors `` repeatedly disregarded the warnings of experienced , senior prosecutors assigned to the case , '' the judge said . In the ruling , which followed three weeks of hearings , Urbina said the explanations prosecutors and federal agents offered for using the guards ' statements were `` all too often contradictory , unbelievable and lacking in credibility . '' `` In short , the government has utterly failed to prove that it made no impermissible use of the defendants ' statements or that such use was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt , '' he wrote . There was no immediate response to the decision from the Justice Department , which can appeal the ruling or seek new indictments against the men . The men were guarding a State Department convoy moving through western Baghdad when the shooting began . The company said its contractors came under attack , but Iraqi authorities called the gunfire unprovoked and indiscriminate . Each of the now-former guards -- Paul Slough , Evan Liberty , Dustin Heard , Donald Ball and Nicholas Slatten -- faced 14 counts of manslaughter , 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one count of using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime . Prosecutors requested that charges against Slatten be dropped in November , but Thursday 's ruling dismissed the counts against all five . `` We 're obviously pleased at the decision dismissing the entire indictment and are very happy that these courageous young men can begin the new year without this unfair cloud hanging over them , '' said Slough 's lawyer , Mark Hulkower . A sixth guard involved in the shootings , Jeremy Ridgeway , pleaded guilty in 2008 to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter . CNN 's Jomana Karadsheh and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report .
NEW : Iraq to ask Justice Department to appeal decision dismissing charges . Security guards in 2007 shootings `` committed murder , '' official says . Judge found that men 's statements were wrongly used against them . `` What happened is disregard for Iraqi blood , '' victim says .