Australian general says US warned war crime allegations could prevent work with Australia's SAS - 9News

The US government warned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could prevent US forces from working with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, Australia’s defence force chief said on Wednesday.

General Angus Campbell told a Senate committee that he received a letter from the US defence attache in Canberra in March 2021 suggesting the elite SAS may have been "tainted" by the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan raised in an Australian war crime investigation report that was made public in 2000.

Campbell said "one individual" had his "posted position adjusted" following the letter.

Angus Campbell told a Senate committee that he received a letter from the US defence attache in Canberra in March 2021 suggesting the elite SAS may have been “tainted” by the allegations of war crimes. (Sydney Morning Herald)

The letter warned that the Brereton report, which detailed "credible information" that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, could trigger a US law that prevents the country’s military working with units linked to "gross violations of human rights".

"I received a letter from the defence attache of the United States Armed Forces based in Canberra, to me, indicating that the release of the Brereton report and its findings may initiate Leahy Law considerations," Campbell said.

Campbell said he did not believe he informed the defence minister at the time and had not informed the current defence minister, Richard Marles.

Campbell was quizzed by senators on why he had not advised successive governments about such a letter from Australia’s most important security treaty partner.

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie asked whether the government should have been advised of such a "pretty big matter".

Current Defence Minister Richard Marles (centre) had not been informed about the letter. (Twitter)

Campbell replied: "I think there's a difference between 'may' and 'does'. So the defence attache was indicating that it 'may', rather than it 'does'."

"I don't think this was an issue advised beyond," Campbell said.

Marles' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Police in March charged the first Australian veteran for an alleged killing in Afghanistan, three years after the Brereton investigation found that 19 Australian special forces soldiers could face charges for illegal conduct during the conflict.

Former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz, 41, was charged with the war crime of murder in the death of an Afghan who was shot in 2012 in a wheat field in Uruzgan province.

Police are working with the Office of the Special Investigator, an Australian investigation agency established in 2021, to build cases against elite SAS and Commando Regiment troops who served in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

More than 39,000 Australian military personnel served in Afghanistan during the 20 years until the 2021 withdrawal, and 41 were killed there.

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2023-05-31 14:35:45Z
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