Villagers seek probe over SAS
New Zealand human rights lawyers are demanding action over an SAS raid they believe killed six Afghan villagers.
It is the latest twist since authors Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson released their book Hit and Run, which has led to accusations of war crimes against the NZ Defence Force.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, lawyer Deborah Manning said she had been given instructions to act on behalf of the villagers who were allegedly injured in the raid, and the immediate family members of the deceased.
She said she would be asking the prime minister and the attorney-general to launch a ‘‘full and independent inquiry’’.
‘‘Under law, an independent investigation and inquiry must occur as stage one. Following that, you look at stage two, which is accountability.’’
Manning claimed the villagers had not been interviewed for previous inquiries undertaken by the Afghan government.
‘‘Their side has not been heard.’’
Manning practises in refugee, immigration and human rights law, and also serves as an executive member of the Refugee Council.
She previously acted as a senior legal consultant to Geneva human rights group Al Karama (Dignity), which represents victims of human rights violations in the Arab region.
She said the villagers approached Stephenson in 2016 asking for his help. He then referred them to Manning.
In her opinion, the material in Hit and Run established ‘‘credible allegations’’, Manning said.
She and her colleagues, Dr Rodney Harrison and Richard Mcleod, were still in the ‘‘early stages’’ of the process and did not want to comment on potential lawsuits at this time.
However, the villagers had two messages for the people of New Zealand, she said.
‘‘The villagers first of all would like to convey their thanks to the public in terms of talking about what has happened. They are very touched, in particular, that little Fatima [who allegedly died in the raid] is being acknowledged, because she was a very beloved child of the village.’’
The villagers were also ‘‘concerned’’ at comments made in order to justify the attacks.
‘‘They are a simple, poor village and they have lost their dearest people for no reason,’’ she said.
Hager and Stephenson’s book described raids by SAS troops in Baghlan in August 2010 that they say left six civilians dead and 15 injured.
The book said the raids were in response to the first combat death in 2010 of a Kiwi soldier when New Zealand was leading the provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan.
At the book’s launch, Hager and Stephenson said the military acted against New Zealand values in what may have amounted to war crimes.
The elite soldiers mistakenly believed they would find the insurgents who had attacked a Kiwi patrol 19 days earlier, killing Lieutenant Tim O’donnell, they said.
‘‘The insurgent group wasn’t there. Instead, at least 21 civilians were killed and injured – many of them women and children – and the SAS and US forces burned and blew up about a dozen houses.’’
Hager said the Defence Force and Government then tried to keep the whole thing secret.