Australia looking to pay for its war crimes in Afghanistan: Report

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Australia is reportedly holding discussions to “compensate” victim families for its war crimes in Afghanistan.

In this regard, Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has “received a number of briefings from officials about compensation.”

Paying compensation to the Afghan victim families was one of the recommendations of the Brereton Report released in late 2020, which was commissioned by the inspector-general of the Australian Defense Force (ADF). The report had found “credible information” that Australian soldiers murdered at least 39 civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan.

It was led by Paul Brereton, who is both a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and a major general in the army reserve.

According to the Brereton Report, 25 current or former personnel were involved in serious crimes, either carrying out the offenses themselves or being “accessories.”

The Brereton Report investigated alleged war crimes committed by the ADF in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

ADF Chief Gen. Angus Campbell had later offered an apology to Afghans over the killings and then Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised the perpetrators would face action.

However, the Australian military was mulling discharging soldiers involved in war crimes in Afghanistan on “medical grounds.”

According to The Guardian newspaper, the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “is looking to compensate families of victims of alleged Afghanistan war crimes, more than two years after a landmark inquiry found payments should be offered quickly to restore ‘Australia’s standing’.”

“Whilst there are a number of complexities associated with this, the government remains committed to implementing, to the extent that it can, the Brereton Report,” a spokesperson for Marles added.