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68-761: The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report , commonly known as the Brereton Report (after the investigation head), is a report into war crimes allegedly committed by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) during the War in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. The investigation was led by Paul Brereton , who is both a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and

136-524: A war of aggression , or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements, or assurances. Because the definition of a state of "war" may be debated, the term "war crime" itself has seen different usage under different systems of international and military law. It has some degree of application outside of what some may consider being a state of "war", but in areas where conflicts persist enough to constitute social instability. The legalities of war have sometimes been accused of containing favoritism toward

204-716: A carryover from the organisation of the British Commandos in World War II. In the Canadian Army , a troop is the equivalent of a platoon within the armoured, artillery, engineer, and signals branches. Two to four troops comprise the main elements of a squadron. In the United States Army , in the cavalry branch, a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry company, commanded by a captain and consisting of three or four platoons, and are called

272-510: A cover story created to conceal the practice. The killing of passive prisoners of war is a war crime . The report discusses at length the parties responsible for the criminal acts alleged, concluding that while senior commanders "must bear some responsibility", "it was at the patrol commander level that the criminal behaviour was conceived, committed, continued, and concealed, and overwhelmingly at that level that responsibility resides." The patrol commanders were corporals and sergeants , and

340-523: A duty to prevent" criminal behaviour by a military force. Despite having argued that he had obeyed superior orders , von Hagenbach was convicted, condemned to death , and beheaded. The Hague Conventions were international treaties negotiated at the First and Second Peace Conferences at The Hague , Netherlands, in 1899 and 1907, respectively, and were, along with the Geneva Conventions, among

408-658: A legal basis and framework for the conduct of war under international law. Every single member state of the United Nations has currently ratified the conventions, which are universally accepted as customary international law , applicable to every situation of armed conflict in the world. The Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions adopted in 1977 containing the most pertinent, detailed and comprehensive protections of international humanitarian law for persons and objects in modern warfare are still not ratified by several states continuously engaged in armed conflicts, namely

476-738: A major general in the army reserve. The independent commission was initiated by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force in 2016, and after a long investigation, delivered its final report on 6 November 2020. The redacted version was released publicly on 19 November 2020. The report found evidence of 39 murders of civilians and prisoners by (or at the instruction of) members of the Australian special forces , which were subsequently covered up by ADF personnel. The report stated 25 ADF personnel were involved in

544-480: A military objective are governed under principles such as of proportionality and military necessity and can be permissible. Military necessity "permits the destruction of life of ... persons whose destruction is incidentally unavoidable by the armed conflicts of the war; ... it does not permit the killing of innocent inhabitants for purposes of revenge or the satisfaction of a lust to kill. The destruction of property to be lawful must be imperatively demanded by

612-659: A new squadron to be raised at a later date), and the Morrison government established a new Office of the Special Investigator to investigate further criminal conduct and recommend prosecution of individuals involved. In December 2020, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton appointed a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria , Mark Weinberg , as the Special Investigator. The Australian Defence Minister Linda Reynolds felt "physically ill" after reading

680-474: A plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes". To date, the present and former heads of state and heads of government that have been charged with war crimes include: War crimes are serious violations of the rules of customary and treaty law concerning international humanitarian law , criminal offenses for which there is individual responsibility. Colloquial definitions of war crime include violations of established protections of

748-613: A troop is the equivalent of a platoon sized element in units of certain corps, those being: The SASR is the only unit in the Royal Australian Infantry Corps to use the term troop to refer to its platoon-size elements. SASR troops are also unusual as they are commanded by a captain—most troop or platoon-sized elements are commanded by a lieutenant. In most cases, units which refer to platoon sized elements as troops refer to company-sized elements as squadrons and battalion-sized elements as regiments (regiments in

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816-573: A troop within a regiment. Companies were renamed troops in 1883. In some instances, an infantry company may be titled as a "troop" due to its presence in a cavalry squadron; this is typically the case for the dismounted reconnaissance troop (DRT) of a RSTA squadron , in which an infantry company-sized element is part of a cavalry-branched squadron. In the United States, state police forces are often regionally divided into troops. This usage came from these organizations modelling themselves on

884-529: Is a legitimate ruse of war , though fighting in combat or assassinating individuals behind enemy lines while so disguised is not, as it constitutes unlawful perfidy . Attacking enemy troops while they are being deployed by way of a parachute is not a war crime. Protocol I, Article 42 of the Geneva Conventions explicitly forbids attacking parachutists who eject from disabled aircraft and surrendering parachutists once landed. Article 30 of

952-513: Is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war , torture , taking hostages , unnecessarily destroying civilian property , deception by perfidy , wartime sexual violence , pillaging , and for any individual that is part of the command structure who orders any attempt to committing mass killings including genocide or ethnic cleansing ,

1020-419: Is called scorched earth policy for the military purpose of denying the use of ground for the enemy. The German troops retreating from Finnish Lapland believed Finland would be occupied by Soviet troops and destroyed many settlements while retreating to Norway under the command of Rendulic. He overestimated the perceived risk but argued that Hague IV authorized the destruction because it was necessary to war. He

1088-566: Is far more serious than anything the ADF has had in its history". In November 2020, the house of a former Army intelligence officer who had provided the Brereton inquiry and Australian Federal Police with evidence of unlawful killings by the SASR was attacked and damaged. She and her family were relocated by the ADF later that day. The New South Wales Police Force was unable to identify who carried out

1156-569: Is unlawful. For aerial strikes, pilots generally have to rely on information supplied by external sources (headquarters, ground troops) that a specific position is in fact a military target. In the case of former Yugoslavia , NATO pilots hit a civilian object (the Chinese embassy in Belgrade ) that was of no military significance, but the pilots had no idea of determining it aside from their orders. The committee ruled that "the aircrew involved in

1224-678: The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 for international war. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the war-crime trials of the leaders of the Axis powers established the Nuremberg principles of law, such as that international criminal law defines what is a war crime. In 1949, the Geneva Conventions legally defined new war crimes and established that states could exercise universal jurisdiction over war criminals. In

1292-880: The Nuremberg Trials and Tokyo Trials have been convened. Recent examples are the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , which were established by the UN Security Council acting under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter . Under the Nuremberg Principles , war crimes are different from crimes against peace . Crimes against peace include planning, preparing, initiating, or waging

1360-672: The RAA use the term ' battery ' for company-sized elements). Privates in the Royal Australian Armoured Corps and SASR hold the rank "trooper", however this is not the case for any other corps or units, which use the term troops . In the British Army the definition of a troop varies by corps . Other Army corps do not use the term. In the Royal Marines , a troop is the equivalent to an Army platoon;

1428-645: The U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1820 , which noted that "rape and other forms of sexual violence can constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity or a constitutive act with respect to genocide"; see also wartime sexual violence . In 2016, the International Criminal Court convicted someone of sexual violence for the first time; specifically, they added rape to a war crimes conviction of Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo . War crimes also included deliberate attacks on citizens and property of neutral states , such as

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1496-587: The laws of war , but also include failures to adhere to norms of procedure and rules of battle, such as attacking those displaying a peaceful flag of truce , or using that same flag as a ruse to mount an attack on enemy troops. The use of chemical and biological weapons in warfare are also prohibited by numerous chemical arms control agreements and the Biological Weapons Convention . Wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothes to infiltrate enemy lines for espionage or sabotage missions

1564-761: The "Lieber Code." A small number of German military personnel of the First World War were tried in 1921 by the German Supreme Court for alleged war crimes. The modern concept of war crime was further developed under the auspices of the Nuremberg trials based on the definition in the London Charter that was published on August 8, 1945 (see Nuremberg principles ). Along with war crimes the charter also defined crimes against peace and crimes against humanity , which are often committed during wars and in concert with war crimes. Also known as

1632-698: The 1907 Hague Convention IV – The Laws and Customs of War on Land explicitly forbids belligerents to punish enemy spies without previous trial . The rule of war, also known as the Law of Armed Conflict , permits belligerents to engage in combat. A war crime occurs when superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering is inflicted upon an enemy. War crimes also include such acts as mistreatment of prisoners of war or civilians . War crimes are sometimes part of instances of mass murder and genocide though these crimes are more broadly covered under international humanitarian law described as crimes against humanity . In 2008,

1700-404: The ADF for the purposes of planting on civilians killed in combat. The weapons were then used in photographic and other evidence to give the illusion that the civilians were legitimate combatants. The report speculates that throwdowns started for the "less egregious though still dishonest" purpose of avoiding scrutiny when legitimate combatants were later found to not be armed, but later evolved into

1768-591: The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organisation, Hadi Marifat, said he had so far been in contact with about seven of the victims' families in Uruzgan province and believed there are other incidents that took place involving Australian soldiers in Uruzgan that were not investigated as part of the inquiry, and "without the participation of the victims, this investigation will be incomplete ...

1836-695: The Blitz as well as the indiscriminate attacks on Allied cities with V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets , nor the Japanese for the aerial attacks on crowded Chinese cities. Controversy arose when the Allies re-designated German POWs (under the protection of the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War ) as Disarmed Enemy Forces (allegedly unprotected by the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War), many of which were then used for forced labor such as clearing minefields . By December 1945, six months after

1904-583: The Brereton Report. Chris Moraitis told a Senate Estimates committee that it may take 1–5 years before evidence can be presented to the Director of Public Prosections and prosecutions can begin. In October 2022, it was reported that the trial of whistleblower David McBride would go ahead. McBride had tried to apply for protection under Australia's whistleblower laws; however, this required the testimony of 2 expert witnesses. The Government moved to block

1972-678: The Federal handling of the cases because "we can't ventilate everything in public... can't spill all our secrets into the open", and suggested "we can do so... behind closed doors in a protected classified space" by establishing a joint standing committee. In response to the tensions between China and Australia, the New Zealand and French Governments joined Australia in criticising the Chinese Government for Zhao's Twitter post. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described

2040-883: The Field (Lieber Code) was written by Franz Lieber , a German lawyer , political philosopher , and veteran of the Napoleonic Wars . Lincoln made the Code military law for all wartime conduct of the Union Army . It defined command responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as stated the military responsibilities of the Union soldier fighting the Confederate States of America . The Geneva Conventions are four related treaties adopted and continuously expanded from 1864 to 1949 that represent

2108-482: The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . As the attack on Pearl Harbor happened while the U.S. and Japan were at peace and without a just cause for self-defense, the attack was declared by the Tokyo Trials to go beyond justification of military necessity and therefore constituted a war crime. War crimes are significant in international humanitarian law because it is an area where international tribunals such as

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2176-736: The Tokyo Trial, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal or simply as the Tribunal, it was convened on May 3, 1946, to try the leaders of the Empire of Japan for three types of crimes: "Class A" (crimes against peace), "Class B" (war crimes), and "Class C" (crimes against humanity), committed during World War II . On July 1, 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC), a treaty-based court located in The Hague , came into being for

2244-399: The United States, Israel, India, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, and others. Accordingly, states retain different codes and values about wartime conduct. Some signatories have routinely violated the Geneva Conventions in a way that either uses the ambiguities of law or political maneuvering to sidestep the laws' formalities and principles. The first three conventions have been revised and expanded, with

2312-478: The attack should not be assigned any responsibility for the fact they were given the wrong target and that it is inappropriate to attempt to assign criminal responsibility for the incident to senior leaders because they were provided with wrong information by officials of another agency". The report also notes that "Much of the material submitted to the OTP consisted of reports that civilians had been killed, often inviting

2380-418: The attack, and apologised to the victim for bungling the investigation. The Department of Defence released a plan to respond to the findings of the Brereton Report on 30 July 2021. The plan states that Defence will implement reforms over the period to the end of 2025. In November 2021, the conversation reported on some of the difficulties of investigating and prosecuting war criminals for the alleged crimes in

2448-507: The backdrop of rising tensions in Australia–China relations . Former 2GB broadcaster and conservative " shock jock " commentator Alan Jones wrote an opinion piece on The Daily Telegraph criticizing Scott Morrison for "talking about our troops in a way that gave Beijing an odious line of attack", and former prime minister Tony Abbott also wrote an opinion piece calling "it's time to muscle up against China". Western Australian MP and

2516-431: The concealment of intentional unlawful murders. The inquiry found that junior soldiers were often required by their superiors to murder prisoners to get their first kill, a practice known as "blooding". Brereton described the practice as such: "Typically, the patrol commander would take a person under control and the junior member [...] would then be directed to kill the person under control". Throwdowns were then placed and

2584-418: The conclusion to be drawn that crimes had therefore been committed. Collateral casualties to civilians and collateral damage to civilian objects can occur for a variety of reasons." The Rendulic Rule is a standard by which commanders are judged. German General Lothar Rendulic was charged for ordering extensive destruction of civilian buildings and lands while retreating from a suspected enemy attack in what

2652-641: The course of fighting. The United Nations defines war crimes as described in Article 8 of the Rome statute , the treaty that established the International Criminal Court: Under the law of armed conflict (LOAC), the death of non-combatants is not necessarily a violation; there are many things to take into account. Civilians cannot be made the object of an attack, but the death/injury of civilians while conducting an attack on

2720-655: The current Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security , Andrew Hastie , himself a former SASR captain and an outspoken anti- CCP figure, criticized the release timing of the 2016 Crompvoets report ahead of the Brereton Report as detailing "unproven rumours" and "has undermined public confidence in the process and allowed the People’s Republic of China to malign our troops", and described Zhao's tweet as "a repugnant slur" and "calculated, deliberate and designed to undermine

2788-595: The environment in which the kind of conduct detailed in the report could take place. The entirety of part two is redacted, and Brereton recommends it "ought not be publicly released, at least until [criminal] proceedings are finalised". Glenn Kolomeitz, a former army officer and lawyer, explained to ABC News that redactions might be intended to avoid prejudice in future criminal investigations and prosecutions, to avoid contaminating those investigations with information obtained from witnesses compelled to cooperate, and to not expose gruesome information that could traumatise or enrage

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2856-598: The first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes in the nascent body of secular international law . The Lieber Code was written early in the American Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln issued as General Order 100 on April 24, 1863, just months after the military executions at Mankato, Minnesota . General Order 100, Instructions for the Government of the Armies of the United States in

2924-484: The fourth one added in 1949: Two Additional Protocols were adopted in 1977 with the third one added in 2005, completing and updating the Geneva Conventions: Just after WWI, world governments started to try and systematically create a code for how war crimes would be defined. Their first outline of a law was " Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field" —also known as

2992-535: The granting of no quarter despite surrender, the conscription of children in the military and flouting the legal distinctions of proportionality and military necessity . The formal concept of war crimes emerged from the codification of the customary international law that applied to warfare between sovereign states , such as the Lieber Code (1863) of the Union Army in the American Civil War and

3060-408: The inquiry "found no evidence that there was knowledge of, or reckless indifference to, the commission of war crimes" on the part of commanding officers from the troop / platoon level upward. The release of the report garnered national headlines, international attention and responses from victims and activists. In response to the report, 2 Squadron, Special Air Service Regiment , was disbanded (with

3128-584: The killings, including those who were "accessories" to the incident. Some of those believed to be involved were still serving with the ADF. The unlawful killings discussed by the report began in 2009, with most occurring in 2012 and 2013. The report is divided into three parts. Part one provides background and context of the inquiry, including its genesis. Part two makes up the main body of the report, and examines in detail 57 incidents and issues of note, and makes recommendations in regards to each of them. Part three discusses systemic issues that may have contributed to

3196-476: The late 20th century and early 21st century, international courts extrapolated and defined additional categories of war crimes applicable to a civil war . In 1474, the first trial for a war crime was that of Peter von Hagenbach , realised by an ad hoc tribunal of the Holy Roman Empire , for his command responsibility for the actions of his soldiers, because "he, as a knight, was deemed to have

3264-406: The legal question of whether the expected incidental harm is excessive may be very subjective. For this reason, States have chosen to apply a "clearly excessive" standard for determining whether a criminal violation has occurred. When there is no justification for military action, such as civilians being made the object of attack, a proportionality analysis is unnecessary to conclude that the attack

3332-537: The loss of lives in Afghanistan. Zhao, in response, pinned the controversial post to the top of his Twitter timeline. The cartoonist Wuheqilin also followed up with a new image captioned "Apologize!" depicting Morrison and the Australian media mobbing a young painter while being oblivious to the backdrop of dead bodies (which Morrison is trying to conceal with an Australian flag) and soldiers shooting more unarmed civilians. These diplomatic scuffles compounded against

3400-489: The necessities of war." For example, conducting an operation on an ammunition depot or a terrorist training camp would not be prohibited because a farmer is plowing a field in the area; the farmer is not the object of attack and the operations would adhere to proportionality and military necessity. On the other hand, an extraordinary military advantage would be necessary to justify an operation posing risks of collateral death or injury to thousands of civilians. In "grayer" cases

3468-491: The political and social cohesion of our country... enabled by Silicon Valley social media oligarchs". This was following Hastie's statements from a week prior that he was "grieved by the findings" and "feel great shame" by the "warrior ethos" that was "about power, ego and self-adulation... worshipped war itself... the opposite of the humility that I expected to find at SASR" and admitted to have knowledge of similar incidents when he served SASR in Afghanistan, but he disagreed with

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3536-642: The post as "un-factual" while the French government described the tweet as "unworthy of diplomatic methods" and an "insult to all countries whose armed forces had been engaged in Afghanistan". Ardern's comment was immediately rebuffed during a daily press conference by Hua Chunying , the director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Information Department, who questioned "Can it be that New Zealand agrees with or even supports Australia's deeds?" This prompted Ardern to step back

3604-539: The prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. Several nations, most notably the United States, China, Russia, and Israel, have criticized the court. The United States still participates as an observer. Article 12 of the Rome Statute provides jurisdiction over the citizens of non-contracting states if they are accused of committing crimes in the territory of one of the state parties. The ICC only has jurisdiction over these crimes when they are "part of

3672-525: The public with the first insights into matters now exposed by Justice Brereton", and called for the dismissal of charges against McBride. General Campbell declined to comment on whether the charges should be abandoned. Neil James, the executive director of the Australia Defence Association , stated that "Australian soldiers have committed war crimes in previous wars but they've been in isolation and haven't been systemic. This clearly

3740-528: The public. Although the details were redacted in the public version of the report, it described a 2012 incident as "possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia's military history " and noted that "the commanders at troop, squadron and task group level bear moral command responsibility" for those events. In July 2021, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that this statement in the report

3808-638: The report. The Chief of the Defence Force, General Angus Campbell , apologised for "any wrongdoing by Australian soldiers" and decried a "distorted culture" that undermined the moral authority of the Australian Defence Force. General Campbell also explained that he and the Chief of Army (Lieutenant General Rick Burr ) would take further action with respect to the commanders of units potentially involved in war crimes. Supporters of military whistleblower David McBride stated in general terms that he "provided

3876-596: The response from the Australian Government and MPs from various parties condemning Zhao's remarks as "repugnant", "deeply offensive" and "utterly outrageous", with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison publicly demanding that the Chinese Government apologise, and appealing to Twitter to directly remove the "falsified image", but has yet to receive any response from Twitter. The Chinese Government has rebuffed Morrison's calls for apology, defending Zhao's conduct and stating that Australia should apologise for

3944-684: The rules-based world order". In response, Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings called the latest comments from the Russian Government the "height of hypocrisy" and "to hear these comments from the Russian Foreign Ministry just tells me the height of hypocrisy that the Russians are prepared to go to in their sustained attack on the Western democracies". War crime A war crime

4012-472: The soldiers in a military. A cavalry soldier of private rank is called a " trooper " in many Commonwealth armies (abbreviated "Tpr", not to be confused with "trouper"). A related sense of the term, troops refers to members of the military collectively, as in "the troops"; see Troop (disambiguation) . Today, a troop is defined differently in different armed forces. In the Australian Army

4080-417: The tone in the following days and state that New Zealand has not taken sides. The Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that "the circumstances make us truly doubt the genuine capacity of Australian authorities to actually hold accountable all the servicemen who are guilty of such crimes" and "it makes us reassess the true meaning of the official line pronounced by Canberra to protect

4148-492: The victims and their families will provide first-hand information and evidence that has not been considered so far by the Australian Inspector-General". He called for "the victims' families to be involved in the investigation and in any legal proceedings, whether that take place in Afghanistan or abroad", and that " compensation has to be comprehensive, including restorative justice and rehabilitation to

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4216-602: The victims' families". Zhao Lijian , a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of China and a vocal provocateur on Twitter , share-posted a computer graphics painting created by a Chinese internet political cartoonist , pennamed Wuheqilin , depicting an Australian soldier holding a bloodstained knife to a child's throat, on top of an Australian flag . This image was accompanied by the English caption: "Don't be afraid, we are coming to bring you peace!" This triggered

4284-417: The war had ended, it was estimated by French authorities that 2,000 German prisoners were still being killed or maimed each month in mine-clearing accidents. The wording of the 1949 Third Geneva Convention was intentionally altered from that of the 1929 convention so that soldiers who "fall into the power" following surrender or mass capitulation of an enemy are now protected as well as those taken prisoner in

4352-438: The winners (" Victor's justice "), as some controversies have not been ruled as war crimes. Some examples include the Allies ' destruction of Axis cities during World War II , such as the firebombing of Dresden , the Operation Meetinghouse raid on Tokyo (the most destructive single bombing raid in history), and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki . In regard to the strategic bombing during World War II , there

4420-426: The witnesses testifying on "national security" grounds, so McBride withdrew his application and the trial would go ahead. In 2023, the former Australian SAS soldier Oliver Schulz was arrested and charged with the killing of Dad Mohammad . He is the first person to be charged in connection with the report. He is also the first Australian soldier to ever be charged under Australian law with a war crime. The director of

4488-432: Was a reference to allegations that a team of special forces soldiers killed multiple prisoners and civilians over several months. The 39 murders do not appear to include additional alleged killings previously described off the record to Dr Samantha Crompvoets, a sociologist working for the army. The report found evidence of the practice of "throwdowns", where Australian troops would carry weapons and equipment not issued by

4556-484: Was acquitted of that charge. Under the "Rendulic Rule" persons must assess the military necessity of an action based on the information available to them at that time; they cannot be judged based on information that subsequently comes to light. Troop Troops is often used to refer to the other members of one's company or cause, but because of its military connotations, it conveys a particularly altruistic type of dedicated worker. Traditionally, troops refers to

4624-402: Was no international treaty or instrument protecting a civilian population specifically from attack by aircraft, therefore the aerial attacks on civilians were not officially war crimes. The Allies at the trials in Nuremberg and Tokyo never prosecuted the Germans, including Luftwaffe commander-in-chief Hermann Göring , for the bombing raids on Warsaw , Rotterdam , and British cities during

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