Will Australia provide justice for Afghanistan war crimes?
| Publisher | Human Rights Watch |
| Publication Date | 20 June 2018 |
| Cite as | Human Rights Watch, Will Australia provide justice for Afghanistan war crimes?, 20 June 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5b87de26a.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
June 20, 2018 12:14PM EDT
Need to Protect Witnesses as Probe Uncovers Special Forces' Assault, Murder
By Patricia Gossman, Senior Researcher, Afghanistan
A soldier searches a house in a village in Baluchi pass in Uruzgan province, November 1, 2007. © 2007 Reuters
The accounts are both shocking and horribly familiar.
Soldiers acting as if they were above the law assault and murder civilians in a barbaric competition to outdo each other. New recruits compelled to prove themselves by killing. The victims are not enemies in battle but the elderly, men with disabilities, a farmer on his way to buy flour – essentially anyone who can't fight back.
The accused? Members of Australia's elite special forces, the Special Air Services (SAS).
The SAS are under investigation in Australia in a case that may be involve the "most serious and high-profile allegations" the force has faced. According to a Fairfax Media report, such crimes became a routine part of SAS operations in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province between 2006 and 2013. One soldier shot dead an elderly unarmed man in an initiation ritual. Another kicked a handcuffed Afghan civilian off a cliff and then executed him. Other soldiers removed a man's prosthetic leg and took it back to Perth to use as a souvenir drinking vessel.
These and other alleged SAS crimes committed in Afghanistan are under investigation by New South Wales Judge Paul Brereton. Those familiar with the charges describe a culture of competitive violence and a "complete lack of accountability" within the elite force. Witnesses in the investigation, including SAS soldiers who have agreed to testify, have received threats warning them of retaliation if they do.
Australia's SAS join the ranks of other ostensibly elite forces whose crimes are emblematic of the worst aspects of the international coalition's involvement in Afghanistan. In 2015 the US reopened a criminal inquiry into the alleged torture and murder of 17 civilians by an army Special Forces unit between 2012 and 2013 – no information has been released since the inquiry began. Since early 2016, the UK authorities investigated allegations that British Air Services troops murdered at least 53 civilians between 2009 and 2011, snatching some from their beds, handcuffing and hooding them before shooting them dead. The inquiry into these allegations was shut down.
Australia needs to do better, most importantly by ensuring the protection of witnesses who come forward and by prosecuting those threatening retaliation against them. Only by transparently investigating the alleged war crimes and prosecuting those responsible can Australia bring some measure of justice to the victims and end impunity in the SAS.
Link to original story on HRW website
