World news – Britain – “We expected better than Australia”: Shock and anger in Afghanistan over the war crimes report

The painful findings of the Breton investigation into war crimes caused shock and anger in Afghanistan, with one group describing the actions of the strong Australian as a painful betrayal by a country that « we expected better than ».

The release of the findings of the investigation on Thursday drew widespread condemnation in Australia, including from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who said he was « completely disgusted » by the report, and former Defense Chief and current Governor-General David Hurley who described the allegations as « atrocities. » Unforgivable.

Major General Judge Paul Breriton, who led a four-year review of Special Forces behavior in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016, found evidence showing that 25 of the perpetrators unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians, most of them detainees, and none of them had died. In the midst of war.

In some cases, there is evidence that the alleged killings occurred on the instructions of the patrol leaders, who asked young soldiers to kill them for the first time by executing prisoners, a practice known as « blood ». The report stated that the alleged victims were not combatants and there was no doubt or confusion about the intent of the Special Forces soldiers. .

Previous work by military sociologist Samantha Krumpphuts revealed allegations that two Afghan boys were slaughtered by SAS operators, stabbed in « body counting contests » and the indiscriminate killing of « fallen men » – villagers who escaped from a helicopter approach.

Results in Afghanistan caused shock and anger as the nation woke up late Thursday Australian time..

The Executive Director of the Afghan Human Rights and Democracy Organization, Hadi Marivat, spoke to The Guardian Australia as his staff prepares to report to some of the families of the alleged victims of Britton’s findings..

“There are a lot of questions for us, and how to do it, basically,” he said. « We cannot further the trauma of the victims by giving more details. We would like to be honest at the same time and tell them exactly what happened according to this report.

He said that the level of violence is not new for many Afghans. What was shocking, however, was the report’s finding that there was credible evidence that Australian forces had committed the crime, which had the good faith of many local residents..

“What really shocks us is that we were expecting better from the Australian and Australian armed forces,” he said. «  Allow me to be honest with you . . . When it comes to public perceptions of Afghans toward the Australian and Australian armed forces, we know they have done a lot of good things in this country..

« But the one thing that was really painful for us was that despite these good intentions that were there on the part of the Afghans, we didn’t expect this at all from the Australian Armed Forces.. We were not even making a comparison between the Australian forces and the United States Special Forces, especially the CIA, when they were involved in the torture and transfer of prisoners from here to their black sites.. .

The head of the Australian Defense Force, Angus Campbell, made a direct apology to victims and their families on Thursday, and said he was exploring a compensation scheme..

Maariv and others support such a scheme, but say the top priority is to involve the alleged victims in the looming criminal investigation and possible prosecutions..

The head of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Shehrazad Akbar, has called for Australia to establish an independent body to represent Afghan victims of alleged war crimes for Australian Special Forces.

Akbar also called on the Afghan government to conduct its own investigations to find witnesses from the Afghan forces who might help prosecute the Australian soldiers.

Speaking from Kabul, he described the report’s largest finding on credible evidence that Australian soldiers killed Afghan civilians as a « horrific abuse. ».

She said that the commission, which has attempted to monitor human rights in Uruzgan County during Australian deployments, has four files on issues likely to relate to the incidents detailed in the report of the investigation into alleged Australian war crimes.

Akbar said it is important that the rights of the families of the alleged victims are closely monitored in any investigation or compensation process.

“It is important for the Australian government to have a separate entity for victims to provide education for compensation or any compensation and of course they should be informed of the progress of the investigation. They are all right.

Akbar said the Afghan government needs to maintain pressure on the Australian government to ensure that the criminal investigation proceeds.

She said it is important that members of the Afghan forces who may have witnessed any of these alleged crimes are encouraged to cooperate with the Australian authorities.

Speaking to ABC Thursday evening, Campbell said that cultural and leadership problems, combined with the slow deterioration of oversight mechanisms, created a space for alleged crimes to occur..

« Suddenly you have a space in which some people choose to act illegally, perhaps with the belief that they might not be held accountable, » he said.

He defended the redaction of details of one alleged incident, referred to as « perhaps the most shameful event in Australian military history », saying that transparency would jeopardize future criminal proceedings.

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Afghanistan, War Crimes, Australia, Australian Defense Force, Angus Campbell