UNITED NATIONS,  (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's pardoning of four security guards from the private military firm Blackwater who were convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians was not a positive development, said a UN spokesman on Thursday.

"We support what the (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights said. This development is not a positive one for accountability of crimes against civilians," said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

On the broader issue of paid mercenaries and paid military contractors, the secretary-general has spoken out very forcefully on the negative influence that they have. It is also very important that accountability be registered when civilians are killed, he told a press briefing.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that pardoning the four security guards contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future.

Trump on Tuesday granted full pardons to 15 people, including four Blackwater security guards convicted of killing 14 civilians in a 2007 massacre in Baghdad.  ■