Defence chief says it ‘appears’ girl was killed
The Chief of Defence has accepted a 3-year-old Afghanistan girl appears to have been killed during an SASled raid in Afghanistan.
Air Marshal Kevin Short yesterday told the Operation Burnham inquiry it ‘‘appears’’ the girl, Fatima, had been killed and accepted the Defence Force appeared to do nothing for other civilians possibly injured.
Though he said it was not proven civilians were killed and injured, under questioning he confirmed this was because the Defence Force had not looked for such evidence.
The admission is a first for the Defence Force, which has responded combatively to allegations of civilian deaths that have persisted for nine years. It came after former defence minister Wayne Mapp, facing allegations of a coverup, admitted to knowing of possible civilian deaths after an SAS-led raid and deciding not to tell the prime minister or public.
Short told the inquiry there was a failure – through error – to set the record straight on the possibility of civilian deaths.
The Defence Force repeatedly asserted claims of deaths were proven ‘‘unfounded’’ by a coalition force investigation for years, despite evidence presented in documentary Collateral Damage in 2014 and book Hit & Run in 2017.
But while the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) report cleared ground troopers, it confirmed civilian deaths were possible as a US Apache helicopter with a fired on a building. ‘‘The fact that civilians die in war is not necessarily a war crime . . . If you are a member of an organised armed group and you behave as such, then you actually forfeit your protections as a civilian.
‘‘We only, only, killed and injured those who were members of an organised armed group,’’ Short said yesterday.
Inquiry lawyer Kristy McDonald, QC, suggested to Short the Defence Force’s conduct had done ‘‘a grave disservice to the men who put their lives on the line for New Zealand’’.
‘‘Do you agree that there will be many in the public that would be left with a misunderstanding about the role they may have played in the possibility of any civilian casualties?,’’ McDonald said. Short said: ‘‘Yes.’’
Lawyer Davey Salmon, representing journalist Jon Stephenson, said Fatima was only one of the civilians alleged killed and injured, and ‘‘nothing appeared to be done to help the injured’’.
The chief accepted this but said he would not say more should have been done at the time.
‘‘I’m hesitating because there’s been nothing that’s come through that has proven civilians were killed and injured.’’
Salmon said he continued ‘‘to take that line’’ because nothing had been done to confirm if this was proven.
Short said: ‘‘Yes.’’
He said the Defence Force would respond differently to such allegations of civilian deaths now.
‘‘I just can’t believe it is thought of as a coverup . . . To me it’s a mess of information, control and flow that’s caused this.’’
Defence chiefs had previously told the inquiry the ISAF report was mysteriously discovered in a safe in Wellington, when the claimed deaths were made public in the 2014 documentary Collateral Damage.
New evidence, which upended a week-long hearing in September, showed the report was in defence hands in 2011.
SAS commander Colonel Jim Blackwell said on Tuesday he received the report and briefed Mapp in September 2011, and the minister had read the report.
Mapp, questioned by the inquiry yesterday, said he had not read the ISAF report, received a copy of it, or knew it was in is office.
‘‘I’ve searched my memory very deeply on this . . . I simply have no recollection of reading that document.’’
But he pivoted on previous statements that he was unaware of the possible deaths during one of the ‘‘most significant operations’’ undertaken in Afghanistan, until the 2014 documentary was released.
In recent weeks, and after looking at his diary and Blackwell’s evidence, he now had a ‘‘fragmentary memory’’ of being briefed on the possible civilian casualties.
He said Blackwell told him there was no evidence of civilian deaths, though it was possible civilians had died due to a misaligned gunsight on a US Apache helicopter.
Mapp reiterated the briefing left him with the impression there was ‘‘no evidence’’ of civilian deaths, and said he was was not briefed in detail.
McDonald questioned Mapp on this ‘‘dramatic change’’ during testy exchanges.
‘‘Are you absolutely sure you’re not falling on your sword for this matter, for some reason we’re not aware of?’’ she said.
Mapp said: ‘‘No’’.
As defence minister, Mapp told media in April 2011 an investigation had proven false the allegations of possible civilian deaths during the raid. This position was maintained by the Defence Force while it held the report.
McDonald asked whether Mapp accepted he misled the public, given his knowledge of a report confirming the deaths months later.
‘‘They were not proven to be false Dr Mapp, how hard is it? . . . Why are you not prepared to accept now that you made a mistake then?’’ she said.
Mapp said, as he was told there was ‘‘no evidence’’ of deaths, he had not misled the public and he decided he could not take the matter further.
‘‘I did not think I was doing that, I’m responsible for the decisions I made. Others will judge them.’’
He admitted he may have made the wrong decision and should have spoken with an adviser or the office of prime minister John Key.
He said the prime minister’s office would have probably denied a need to correct the record.
Mapp said he later discovered, after being ‘‘told off’’ by Key, that the SAS had a direct line to the prime minister.
He knew Brigadier Chris Parsons spoke with Key but was not aware the Blackwell briefed the prime minister, as the SAS commander told the inquiry.