Unlawful killings and a warrior culture among defence personnel are just some of the damning allegations to be aired in the Brereton report.
Unlawful killings and a warrior culture among defence personnel are just some of the damning allegations to be aired in the Brereton report.
That report, released this morning, alleges 23 incidents of unlawful killings of 39 people by Australian forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
Matters have now been referred to the Australian Federal Police.
The report stemmed from an inquiry undertaken by NSW judge and Australian Army Reserve senior officer Paul Brereton, which considered 57 allegations of possible war crimes.
The inquiry reviewed 20,000 documents, 25,000 images and interviewed 423 witnesses.
Some allegations could not be substantiated.
Justice Brereton wrote in the report that, upon embarking on the inquiry, he and others had hoped to report that rumours of war crimes were without substance.
“None of us desired the outcome to which we have come,” he said.
“We are all diminished by it."
Announcing the report’s findings this morning, Australian Defence Force chief Angus Campbell said none of the alleged killings detailed in the report took place in the heat of battle, and that every person spoken to by the inquiry understood the law of armed conflict and rule of engagement.
Allegations include soldiers partaking in “blooding”, which refers to a practice in which they are asked to shoot prisoners so they obtain their first kill, and “throw downs”, in which weapons are planted on civilians to make them appear as if they are a legitimate target.
General Campbell said he believed a misplaced focus on prestige, status and power had led to a distorted culture that was embraced and amplified by experienced, charismatic and influential non-commissioned officers and their proteges.
"As units became consumed with preparing for and fighting the war, much of the good order and discipline of military life fell away," he said.
"Cutting corners, bending and ignoring rules was normalised.
"Not correcting this culture, as it developed, was a failure of both unit and higher command."
Writing in the report’s executive summary, Justice Brereton said special forces operators should pride themselves on being model professional soldiers, not on being warrior heroes.
He later goes on to say that history showed that a failure to deal with alleged of breaches of armed conflict laws was corrosive.
“The consequences of not addressing such allegations as and when they eventually arise are measured in decades,” he said.
“By conducting this inquiry, the Australian Defence Force has taken ownership of its own problem, as the rumours began to emerge.”
He pointed out that Australia adhered to the laws of armed conflict and international humanitarian law, and that enemies who failed to do so were held to the same standards.
“In order to maintain our moral integrity and authority as a nation, which in turn gives us international credibility, strategic influence, and sustains our operational and tactical combat power, we must apply at least the same standards to our own military personnel,” he said.
“Moral authority is an element of combat power.
“If we do not hold ourselves, on the battlefield, to at least to the standards we expect of our adversaries, we deprive ourselves of that moral authority, and that element of our combat power.
“Painful as it may be for those involved, by conducting this inquiry, and following the evidence wherever it went, Australia has sought to maintain our moral integrity and authority as a nation by investigating breaches of laws which apply to us and our enemies alike
“It also ensures that the only courts current or former Australian Defence Force members may face are those established by the laws of Australia.”
Justice Brereton said the inquiry did not doubt that it had failed to uncover everything that fell within the terms of reference, and that there were cases in which it had probably been deceived.
“Reports, rumours and allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan will continue to emerge, following the release of the inquiry’s findings, and potentially for many years,” he said.
“Partly for that reason, the inquiry has made recommendations for the establishment of processes to receive and assess such reports, using the inquiry's evidence and experience.
“Amongst other things, it is important that people who have been traumatised by their exposure to such incidents have the opportunity to speak in a confidential setting about them.
“One of the more satisfying aspects of the inquiry is that some witnesses have found that opportunity cathartic.”
Today’s news comes just days after the federal government appointed a special investigator to consider criminal cases against Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, who is suing Fairfax Media for reporting he alleges wrongly characterised him as a war criminal, welcomed the appointment, saying it accurately clarified that it was no part of the inspector general’s remit to make findings of fact in relation to what he referred to as rumours concerning special forces soldiers.
While Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pushed back against the possibility of referring matters to international courts, he has not ruled out stripping medals of soldiers found guilty of war crimes or disbanding the SAS.
General Campbell, who offered his apologies to Afghanistan following the report's release, echoed Mr Morrison's comments, saying soldiers found guilty may be stripped of their medals and that the SAS would over time be re-raised with a different squadron and title.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who will address a Business News Politics & Policy breakfast tomorrow morning, said accountability will be the cornerstone of the department's response to the report.
She pointed to the appointment of a special investigator and the creation of an oversight panel as helping to assure accountability within the department.
"I remain proud of the men and women of the ADF who have served our nation on operations at home and around the world, and have done so with distinction," Ms Reynolds said.
"The findings announced by the Chief of the Defence Force today should not cast a shadow on the vast majority whose contributions to the mission in Afghanistan were carried out to the highest standards demanded of them."
A redacted copy of the 465-page report can be read here.