Defence ‘confusion’ over deaths
NZDF appears to be backing away from adamant denial of civilian casualties in raid
TEmma Russell
Rowing great Eric Murray has been removed from parts of a beer campaign after a watchdog ruled his presence was inappropriate as “a hero of the young”.
The dual Olympic gold medallist was part of a Brewers Association campaign called “Beer the Beautiful Truth” that featured a number of New Zealand celebrities talking about labelling around the nutritional content in beer. Singer Hollie Smith and actors Antonia Prebble and Robbie Magasiva appear in the ad alongside Murray, all with a beer in hand.
Alcohol Healthwatch laid a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) expressing concern that Murray was a “hero” to young people and was effectively being used to encourage minors to drink.
The authority upheld that part of the complaint yesterday and ruled the ad was in breach of the Code for the Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol.
The Brewers Association’s executive director Dylan Firth said he New Zealand Defence Force explicitly told the Government in 2010 “there is no way that civilian casualties could have occurred” in the controversial NZSAS raid in Afghanistan.
But the Defence Force (NZDF) now appears to acknowledge its guarantee was the result of a confusion in 2010 that it subsequently failed to correct.
The details have emerged after an investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman as a result of a Defence Force refusal to supply details relating to the Operation Burnham raid it accepted the ruling.
“We have already taken steps to ensure that any campaign material featuring Eric has been removed from unrestricted areas,” he said.
Alcohol Healthwatch executive director Dr Nicki Jackson said Murray featured prominently in the campaign, backed by DB and Lion, while at the same time engaging directly with young people through his work in New Zealand schools.
“Research shows that the more adolescents are exposed to alcohol advertising, the more likely they are to drink heavily.”
Alcohol Healthwatch also raised concerns that having Murray talking about having “the best beer of his life” after attending the birth of his child, implied the success of a social occasion was dependent on alcohol. However that part was not upheld by the authority.
A third part of the complaint — that argued references to “nutrition” and beer being “99 per cent sugar-free” were misleading — was also dismissed by the authority. through the Official Information Act.
The new information seems to explain former Minister of Defence Wayne Mapp’s confident assertion no civilians were killed when the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) raid was first made public in 2011 during an interview with TVNZ’s Q& A.
Journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson successfully called for a public inquiry in the book Hit & Run which alleged the death of six civilians after a “revenge” raid by the NZSAS the Defence Force covered up.
The Defence Force has rejected claims revenge motivated the raid and rejected suggestions the NZSAS were behind the deaths of any civilians. The new Labour-led administration this month announced an inquiry into the allegations.
The new documents show the Defence Force reports were declassified so then-Prime Minister Sir John Key could speak publicly about the raid — including the claim civilians were killed.
But it was Key and Mapp who apparently decided to keep the details secret, with a note saying: “PM and Min agreed not to release this information into the media.”
Then-Defence Chief LieutenantGeneral Sir Jerry Mateparae told Key and Mapp on December 13, 2010 the raid was planned after the death of Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell to “disrupt this insurgent group’s capacity and capability to target coalition forces”.
The memo detailed the NZSAS assault on the village and stated the operation was followed by allegations “20 civilians had been killed by aircraft bombardment”.
Key and Mapp were told an inquiry team led by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) visited the area, including hospitals where the wounded were said to have been taken, reviewed gun camera footage from aircraft and interviewed NZSAS personnel.
It concluded: “As a result of their investigation the assessment team concluded that ‘having reviewed the evidence there is no way that civilian casualties could have occurred’.”
But it emerged in other documents the information came from an NZSAS task force commander in Afghanistan who was allowed to read but not copy the ISAF investigation report.
It led to that officer providing a summary which led NZDF headquarters in New Zealand to believe no civilian casualties at all had occurred when in fact the officer had intended to convey New Zealand personnel were not responsible for any.
“This summary did not include the acknowledgement by ISAF that coalition helicopter gunship rounds fell short and may have caused casualties. NZDF acknowledges that the ‘unfounded’ remark related to NZDF personnel and [so] only reflected a partial picture of the operation.”
When Hit & Run was published in 2017, NZDF said it prepared a press release “quickly” from earlier findings that had led to the word “unfounded” being used to reject claims of civilian casualties. “With the benefit of hindsight, this was a moment when the NZDF could have removed some of the confusion around its position.”