INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Human Rights Watch Associate Asia Director Patricia Gossman on Monday published an article on the situation of war crimes in Afghanistan
over 20 years of foreign occupation and how differently two countries are tackling the issue.
Here’s what she wrote.
Family members of
Afghans unlawfully killed by foreign military forces during the 20-year war in Afghanistan have been waiting a long time for justice
Last week revealed two quite different approaches by countries that should provide it.
Australia, which has gone the furthest in
investigating alleged war crimes by its forces in Afghanistan, has established a website for family members to file complaints.
The site,
managed by Australia’s Defense Ministry, includes an online form in the Dari and Pashto languages to request compensation.
While this
progress is commendable, it comes five years after a governmental inquiry first disclosed the extent of probable crimes, including summary
executions of captured combatants and civilians
Only one soldier has been charged in connection with the allegations.
The long delays led United Nations special mandate holders in August
2024 to raise concerns about Australia’s approach to compensation “as a form of charity at the discretion of its military, not as a
legal right of victims under international law,” and the lack of clarity concerning consultation with victims and their families.
Those
concerns remain.
Afghan human rights activists are hosting online panels to draw attention to the website
The Australian government needs to ensure Afghans know about the website and how to file a complaint.
The United Kingdom, meanwhile, which
also has an obligation to provide justice for war crimes, has made much slower progress.
Last week, BBC Panorama presented new evidence of
war crimes by British special forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, including interviews with former soldiers about summary executions of wounded
detainees and civilians, including children.
“They handcuffed a young boy and shot him,” said a former soldier who had served in
“He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age.”
The UK government has tried its best to prevent such crimes from ever being
prosecuted, with successive governments alleged to have covered up crimes and shut down criminal inquiries.
While the government
established an independent inquiry into the Afghanistan allegations in December 2022, it has taken years to get going and is limited in
scope to the three years 2010-2013.
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said the new allegations
highlighted “the need for comprehensive accountability.”
That is the only way victims and their families will find justice.
Article
written by Patricia Gossman
The post Afghan war crimes victims still awaiting justice: HRW Asia director first appeared on TINS News |
