Australia has moved to strip senior military officers of their distinguished service medals over alleged war crimes committed on their watch in Afghanistan.
The announcement on Thursday comes after the 2020 Brereton Report found credible evidence that Australian Defence Force personnel in Afghanistan were involved in the unlawful killing of 39 prisoners and civilians.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told parliament the decision was made in keeping with the report’s 143 recommendations, including a number related to “command accountability”.
“My decisions on this matter are consistent with the findings and recommendations of the Brereton Report. Per obligations owed to individuals involved, including under the Privacy Act, I am prohibited from disclosing the details and outcomes,” Marles said.
While Marles did not name the officers who had been stripped of their awards or specify the number of those affected, local media reported that the move related to fewer than 10 personnel.
Marles said that while the alleged actions of about two dozen ADF personnel were a source of “national shame”, more than 26,000 Australians served in the war in Afghanistan.
Major General Paul Brereton’s four-year inquiry did not find evidence that military top brass knew about alleged war crimes.
The former judge, however, found that “troop, squadron and task group commanders bear moral command responsibility and accountability for what happened under their command and control”.
In March last year, former Special Air Service Regiment soldier Oliver Schulz was charged with murdering an Afghan man in 2012, becoming the first serving or former ADF member to be charged with a war crime-related murder.
