Petition delivered to Parliament in coffin
Organisers of a petition calling for an inquiry into allegations of civilian deaths at the hands of Kiwi SAS soldiers say those who give information in confidence need to be protected.
Almost 4000 people have signed the petition calling for a full, independent and public inquiry into allegations made in the book
written by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson.
The book alleged raids conducted by the SAS in Afghanistan resulted in the deaths of six civilians, including a small child, and the wounding of 15 others.
Carl Bradley, the organiser of the petition, delivered it to Green Party MP Chloe Swarbrick at Parliament yesterday. The petition was delivered in a small childsized coffin to reflect the death of a young person during the raid.
Bradley told the crowd the Government had indicated it would soon make an announcement on whether there would be an inquiry into the actions of the New Zealand Defence Force in Afghanistan in 2010. ‘‘There needs to be broad terms of reference that look at allegations of a cover-up by the NZDF and other agencies and the Government,’’ Bradley said. ‘‘There also needs to be a clear signal from the Government that those giving information in confidence are protected. We have a responsibility to the victims of war, which happen to be mainly women and children.’’
Swarbrick, who was collecting the petition on behalf of Green Party defence spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman, said she would pass it onto Attorney-General David Parker. ‘‘The Greens are hoping there will be an open inquiry to ensure there is some accountability and transparency around what occurred to ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the future,’’ Swarbrick said.
The previous Government’s unwillingness to hold an inquiry ‘‘belittled the efforts of people like this who have been campaigning for some time around the transparency of the Defence Force’’.
Asked whether she thought presenting the petition in a small coffin was in bad taste, Swarbrick said it was an ‘‘incredibly emotive issue and people express their grief in different ways’’.