Australian defence minister says Afghan war crime report made her ill
Australian defence minister Linda Reynolds said she was "physically ill" after reading a military report which claimed to have evidence showing 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians were unlawfully killed by Australian elite soldiers.
She told a business conference in Perth :" I was like every other Australian who watched that; I was totally and utterly shocked and mortified.
"I got the report two weeks ago and it made me physically ill."
Australian Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell said on Thursday t hat the report included alleged instances in which new Special Air Service patrol members would shoot a prisoner in order to achieve their first kill, in a practice known as "blooding".
The defence chief was announcing the findings of a four- year investigation by Paul Brereton, a judge who inter viewed more than 400 witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents.
Gen Campbell said soldiers had al so planted weapons and radios to support false claims the prisoners were enemies killed in action.
He unreservedly a pologised to the Afghan people.
The report recommended 19 soldiers should be referred to federal police for criminal investigation. Gen Campbell said he is accepting all the report's recommendations.
"It is, I think, distressing for everybody who has or still does wear the uniform," Ms Reynolds said.
"But if you look at it the other way, the fact is we have faced up to this because it doesn't represent our values as a nation, it does not represent the values of the Australian Defence Force, and we have to tackle it, but to tackle it we have to be honest and it has to be transparent."
Gen Campbell said the illegal killings began in 2009, with the majority occurring in 2012 and 2013. He said some members of t he elite Special Air Service encouraged" a self-centred, warrior culture".
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has already announced a special investigator will help pursue possible prosecutions because the workload would overwhelm existing police resources.
The report was based the finding sofa four-year investigation by Paul Brereton, a judge who was asked to look into the allegations and inter viewed more than 400 witnesses and reviewed thousands of pages of documents.
"To the people of Afghanistan, on behalf of the Australian Defence Force, I sincerely and unreservedly apologise for any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers," Mr Campbell said.
He said he had spoken directly to his Afghan military counterpart to express his remorse.
"Such alleged behaviour profoundly disrespected the trust placed in us by the Afghan people who had asked us to their country to help them ," Mr Campbell said. "It would have devastated the lives of Afghan families and communities, causing immeasurable pain and suffering. And it would have put in jeopardy our mission."