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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
The head of the Australian Defense Forces, Angus Campbell, announced yesterday that there is information to corroborate 23 incidents of alleged illegal killing of 39 people at the hands of 25 members of the special forces in Afghanistan.
He was commenting on a four-year investigation that found “credible information” supporting war crimes allegations by the country’s special forces.
Major General Paul Brereton’s report also said that patrol commanders required young soldiers to shoot prisoners to obtain their first death in a practice known as “bleeding.”
The investigation also found evidence that the soldiers gloated over their actions, kept murder counts, and placed phones and weapons on the corpses to justify their actions.
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Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary has interviewed some of the families of the victims. Speaking from Kabul, he said Morning report: “It was really heartbreaking. They told me about the torture, the helicopters, the women and children who get scared and kill themselves ”.
A victim had told him that four members of his family had been killed: two brothers and two cousins.
In another town, he spoke to several victims about their bad experiences and they described “murder after murder.”
“One man told me that he wanted to look these murderers in the eye and ask them why they killed so many innocent Afghans.”
Another man he interviewed couldn’t stop crying when he compared the sound of bullets from a silenced pistol to “drops of water”.
“These families … have been telling me that they want justice to be done, that they want to make sure this is a transparent process and that those responsible are brought to justice.”
SIMON O’DWYER / Sydney Morning Herald
Australian SAS soldiers patrol near Bagram, Afghanistan.
They have asked whether those directly affected will have the opportunity to fly to Australia to testify in Australian courts, Sarwary said.
Many of the people involved were very poor and had also been asked about his chances of receiving compensation from Australia.
Sarwary said that the Afghanistan Human Rights Commission has demanded that Australia adopt a transparent process as it brings charges against the perpetrators and there must be compensation for the victims.
Clear differences between New Zealand and Australian troops: journalist
Investigative journalist Jon Stephenson, co-author of Hit and run, the book that led to the Operation Burnham Investigation, said that there is a difference between the way Australian forces behaved and the conduct of New Zealand forces.
It is clear that for Operation Burnham the accusations referred to civilian casualties, but they were not deliberate. New Zealand forces were involved in an action in Afghanistan that resulted in civilian casualties, but they did not intend for those people to be killed, Stephenson said.
“While in the Australian case, there is a clear difference, since they deliberately planned and carried out illegal actions, alleged war crimes: shooting people who were in their custody and did not represent any threat or civilians.”
MONIQUE MARY FORD / Stuff
Jon Stephenson: “They deliberately planned and carried out illegal actions, alleged war crimes.”
Australian and New Zealand troops worked together in some places, such as headquarters, but did not go out together in large numbers on missions.
After New Zealand troops had bad experiences working with the US in Afghanistan, the decision was made that New Zealand troops would operate as independently as possible so that they would not be “tainted” by some of the behaviors they saw. In some cases, they did support missions, but generally they acted on their own or with Afghans, Stephenson said.
The Australian federal police will investigate the details and decisions will be made on which police officers should be prosecuted for the 39 alleged murders. This process can take years, he said.
“It would be my expectation, based on what I have heard and the people I have spoken to, that there will definitely be a lot of prosecutions.
“It is inconceivable to me given that, for example, people on camera have been shown shooting unarmed youth in a field that did not pose any threat, that there will be no prosecutions, successful convictions and that some people will serve a serious prison sentence.”
ADF
Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan.
The Chief of the Defense Forces, General Angus Campbell, identified a significant problem with what he called “toxic warrior culture” in the Australian forces and this was not seen in the New Zealand forces.
However, Stephenson said it is important that we consider whether our troops had served as many rotations in the same high-intensity conflict areas and lost as many troops in conflict as the Australians did if such a culture could evolve.
He believes that the New Zealand troops would not have resorted to this type of behavior.
“I think there are significant cultural problems in the Australian Army. They have a very different attitude towards indigenous people than our soldiers have.
“That is not to say that our forces have performed flawlessly at all times, but I think there are significant cultural differences, training differences between New Zealand and Australia.”
With the smaller numbers from New Zealand it was also easier to identify misbehavior.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
