Understanding the Australian Inquiry into ADF War Crimes in Afghanistan

The inspector general of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) released on Nov. 19 a report on its inquiry into allegations of serious misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan, including accusations of war crimes. The report paints a brutal picture of the Australian special forces’ conduct in Afghanistan as part of the American-led military coalition that has been active in the country since 2001.

The details given in the report—the few that were made visible to the public, that is—evoked international shock and elicited graphic headlines such as the New York Times’s “Blood Lust and Demigods: Behind an Australian Force’s Slaughter of Helpless Afghans.”

It’s a huge document: 531 pages, although littered with redactions. And as the Times notes, “It is the first time that a member of the American-led coalition in Afghanistan has so publicly, and at such a large scale, accused its troops of wrongdoing.” So what’s in the report, and what steps led to its coming to fruition?

The inspector general opened the investigation in March 2016 and examined incidents occurring between 2005 and 2016. During the inquiry, investigators interviewed 423 witnesses and reviewed more than 20,000 documents and 25,000 images. The report has three parts: Part One describes the inquiry and provides background information; Part Two details allegations of wrongdoing and whether they have been substantiated; and Part Three considers strategic, operational, organizational and cultural issues in Australia’s special forces.

The bulk of the report comes from Part Two, which examines specific incidents and issues that were subject to investigation. One problem: It is entirely redacted, as it “contains material the publication of which at this stage could compromise potential criminal proceedings, as well as security classified information.” Still, the report provides a window into Part Two through details about its contents provided in other nonredacted sections.

And the information the report does give is jarring to read. Notably, the first page of the document provides a warning that the report “contains objectionable material” and that “[a]ppropriate care is taken to limit exposure.” The content warning also provides a link, specific to the Afghanistan inquiry, which points readers to resources if they “require support after accessing this material.”

The report doesn’t shy away from decrying the conduct of the Australian troops. In an opening letter to the report, James Gaynor, the inspector general of the ADF writes that “[t]he nature and extent of the misconduct allegedly committed by ADF members on operations in Afghanistan is very confronting. The Report discloses allegations of 39 unlawful killings by or involving ADF members.”

He continues, detailing that the report includes “separate allegations that ADF members cruelly treated persons under their control. None of these alleged crimes was committed during the heat of battle. The alleged victims were non-combatants or no longer combatants.”

On Nov. 19, officials held a press conference on the inspector general’s Afghanistan inquiry, during which Gen. Angus Campbell apologized “sincerely and unreservedly” for any wrongdoing by members of the ADF. Campbell reemphasized Gaynor’s comments—none of the alleged crimes detailed in the report occurred during times of duress in battle:

None were alleged to have occurred in circumstances in which the intent of the perpetrator was unclear, confused or mistaken. And every person spoken to by the Inquiry thoroughly understood the Law of Armed Conflict and the Rules of Engagement under which they operated. These findings allege the most serious breaches of military conduct and professional values.

Below, we summarize the inquiry’s findings in each part of the publicly released report.

Part One: “The Inquiry”

The report begins with an introduction explaining that the war in Afghanistan is the longest armed conflict Australia has been involved with to date. It stresses that the special forces component of Operation SLIPPER (Australia’s contribution to the war in Afghanistan as part of NATO) overwhelmingly “performed skillfully, effectively and courageously.”

But SLIPPER was not without its problems. The inspector general’s report details that Operation SLIPPER ended in 2014 and then “a number of issues emerged in Special Operations Command, including rumours that war crimes had been committed by some members of the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan.”

Samantha Crompvoets, a sociologist and research fellow at Australian National University, was appointed to direct research on the rumors and produced in 2016 two documents about her studies. In a January 2016 report, Crompvoets detailed specific disturbing stories that ADF members described to her during the course of her inquiries. These included instances of competitions among service members to get the highest “body counts,” “sanctioned massacres,” cover-ups of unlawful killings and other “vague, nameless scenarios.” She described the totality of the behavior as reflective of “deeply concerning norms” within Australia’s special forces.

Crompvoets’s February 2016 report specifically studied the culture within the special forces organization in Australia. In the executive summary of this report, she wrote that there were “unverifiable accounts of extremely serious breaches of accountability and trust” in the Special Operations Command (SOCOMD). Crompvoets also stated that during her interviews, SOCOMD members alluded to behavior and practices involving “illegal application of violence on operations, disregard for human life and dignity, and the perception of a complete lack of accountability at times.”

The ADF special operations commander, Jeffrey Sengelman, received this information about SOCOMD and alerted the chief of the ADF (then called the chief of army) of possible misconduct by Australian forces in Afghanistan. Sengelman also encouraged every member of SOCOMD to write to him personally if they had witnessed or conducted any unacceptable behavior—in total, Sengelman received 209 letters from special forces members.

In light of these allegations, the ADF chief Become a supporter of IT Security News and help us remove the ads.