Report on Australian special forces in Afghanistan: “deeply disturbing” – VG

– To the people of Afghanistan. On behalf of the Australian Armed Forces, I strongly apologize for the crimes committed by Australian soldiers, Australia’s Chief of Staff Gen. Angus Campbell said during a press conference in the capital Canberra on Thursday.

Here he admitted that there is credible evidence that a group of soldiers from the country’s special forces have unjustly killed civilians, people who were not in combat, and people who were captured or injured.

The main conclusions of the investigation, carried out by Judge Paul Brereton, are 23 cases of what is known as the illegal killing of 39 people in Afghanistan in the period 2005 to 2016.

The report is classified, but the Australian authorities have published a summary here.

Tensions had been high in Australia before the results of the four-year investigation were announced on Thursday. Prime Minister Scott Morrisson has asked people to prepare for an “honest and brutal truth.”

«Toxic competition»

And it was a strong diet that the country’s defense chief Cambell presented after the commission of inquiry was ready with its findings.

He calls the report’s findings “shameful,” “deeply disturbing,” and “appalling,” he writes. Australian Guardian.

The research describes an environment characterized by “toxic competition” and an “egocentric warrior culture” among the Australian Special Forces (SAS).

According to Campbell, this has led some soldiers to take shortcuts and ignore and obey the rules.

– Some patrols took justice into their own hands, rules were broken, stories were made up, lies were told and prisoners were killed, says the defense chief, who recommends that those involved be prosecuted for war crimes.

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According to The Guardian, the report claims, among other things, that superiors have ordered new soldiers to execute the prisoners so that they can “finish” their first murder. According to the report, the practice was called “bleeding.”

– Typically, a patrol car took control of a person, and then got a soldier to kill him while he was under control, says the leader of the investigation according to ABC.

According to the report, “evidence” has also been placed on the dead prisoners, such as radios, weapons or other equipment, to justify the killings.

Campbell says the killings began in 2009, while most occurred in 2012 and 2013. According to the investigation report, there is no evidence that people at the top of the command line knew what was going on. The killings were perpetrated by a small group of people, it is claimed, and must have been strongly influenced by “the psyche of the patrol chief in question.”

– It seems to be in part an intention to “clear” the battlefield for people who may be rebels, regardless of international law of war, to “inaugurate” new soldiers in the team and be able to target more dead enemies than other teams of the squad. says the report.

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Sorry for afghanistan

The report is based on 423 interviews with soldiers and officers from the SAS and Commando special forces, support personnel, interpreters and Afghan civilians. In addition, the researchers have reviewed more than 20,000 documents and 25,000 photos.

– We began this investigation in the hope that we could report that the war crime rumors had no roots in reality. None of us wanted this result, says Brereton, who is behind the report to the Guardian.

The country’s prime minister called his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday to prepare him for “some disturbing accusations” that the government took “very seriously.”

Ghani says in various messages about Twitter that Morrison has “expressed his deepest apologies for the misdeeds.”

Waiting for major changes

Australian Secretary of Defense Linda Reynolds says in a statement that he takes the findings very seriously and that his ministry will get to the bottom of what happened.

However, she claims that she is still proud of the country’s soldiers.

– The findings presented today should not overshadow the vast majority of those who have contributed to the mission in Afghanistan below the high standards that have been demanded of them.

Thursday’s revelations are expected to lead to major changes in the Australian defense, writes the AP news agency.

A total of 19 active soldiers could be charged and possibly punished as a result of the report, writes The Sydney Morning Herald.

The report also recommends that Australia compensate relatives of the dead:

– This will be an important step in rebuilding Australia’s international reputation, especially in Afghanistan, and it is the right thing to do.