[ad_1]
Australia’s top military chief, General Angus Campbell, admits there is credible evidence that soldiers from the country’s elite forces have unjustly killed civilians, non-combatants, and wounded or wounded.
Cause of defensive stoppage
“To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian Armed Forces, I urge the cause of the crime committed by Australian soldiers,” General Campbell said Thursday. It recommends that the soldiers involved be charged with war crimes.
The four-year investigation has uncovered 23 incidents of what is described as unlawful killings in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2016. As a result, up to 39 people were killed. The investigation was conducted by the Inspector General of the Australian Armed Forces.
A total of 19 active soldiers may be charged and possibly punished as a result of the investigative report’s findings, writes The Sydney Morning Herald.
Australian soldiers stood guard of honor outside when the Chief of Defense explained the findings in the investigation report. These soldiers are not the same ones mentioned in the report.
Photo: STRINGER / Reuters / NTB
«Toxic competition»
The full report is secretly sealed, but a summary has been published. The report is based on more than 400 interviews with soldiers and officers from the SAS and Commando special forces, support personnel, interpreters and Afghan civilians.
The investigation has revealed “toxic competition” and a “self-centered warrior culture” among the Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). According to Campbell, this led some soldiers to take shortcuts and ignore and stretch 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.
Unclear reasons
The killings from Campbell’s victory increased in 2009, while the majority occurred in 2012 and 2013.
The reason for these actions is not clear from the available summary, but the actions must have been strongly influenced by the “psyche of the relevant patrol leader.”
– It seems to be in part an intention to “clear” the battlefield for people who could be rebels, regardless of international law; to “inaugurate” new soldiers on the team and be able to target more dead enemies than other teams in the squad, the report says.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison promises to follow up on the case.
Photo: Lukas Coch / AP / NTB
Ask Australia to be a forerunner
The Australian government and Prime Minister Scott Morrison have tried to get ahead of the report by asking people to brace themselves for an “honest and brutal truth”.
Morrison called his Afghan counterpart on Wednesday to warn him of “some disturbing allegations” that the government takes “very seriously.”
President Ashraf Ghani’s office takes a different view of the conversation, saying in several posts on Twitter that Morrison “expressed his deepest causes for the atrocities”, a characteristic that Australians flatly denied.
Designated Letter Investigator
A letter investigator will now review the cases and decide whether to prosecute war crimes.
– It is important to take care of the expectations and hopes that the Australian people have about the armed forces and how soldiers do their job. This requires us to face reality in an honest and brutal way, in an area where expectations and standards may not have been met, says Prime Minister Morrison.
