War crimes allegations against army ‘serious’

The Turnbull government says allegations that members of Australia’s elite special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan are being taken seriously, after a confidential report was leaked to the media.

Labor says it is seeking a briefing from the government about the “deeply concerning” allegations, and it wants the report to be made public to the extent possible.

Fairfax Media reported yesterday that sources within Australian special forces had disclosed to internal defence investigators that soldiers had used “unsanctioned and illegal application of violence” during operations in Afghanistan, showing “disregard for human life and dignity”.

The allegations of war crimes are now the subject of a separate investigation by the New South Wales judge Paul Brereton into the activities of Australia’s special forces in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2016, Fairfax reports.

Internal investigation

The Brereton inquiry will recommend on how the allegations are to be dealt with.

The Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, a former SAS solider, told the ABC Australians should take the Fairfax report seriously.

“That report’s been written by Chris Masters and Nick McKenzie, both of those journalists are exceptional investigative journalists,” he told ABC radio.

“I know Chris very well, having worked with him on his book No Front Line .I have confidence in them. I don’t want to go into specific allegations but they should be taken seriously.”

The internal defence investigation, which prompted the Brereton inquiry, was conducted by the defence department consultant Dr Samantha Crompvoets.

Crompvoets’ report details “problems deeply embedded in the culture” of Special Operations Command, with poor coordination between its two key units, the Special Air Service Regiment and the Commandos.