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UN experts call on Australia to speed up compensation payments to the families of Afghan victims. A UN expert group has called on the Australian government to fulfil its promise as soon as possible to provide compensation to the families of innocent victims killed by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
A 2020 military inquiry found that Australian troops killed 39 civilian prisoners in Afghanistan.
The UN panel said in a statement late on Wednesday that Australia is obliged under international human rights law to pay compensation to victims of extrajudicial killings and torture.
The announcement also stressed that some of the victims had been tortured before being killed. UN experts stressed that it is unacceptable that 12 years have passed and compensation has not yet been paid, and the families of the victims who have lived a hard life in the village for ten years are still in poverty.
For example, the statement mentioned that Nazar Gore had three wives and 17 children.
The UN expert panel criticized Australia for considering compensation as aid, which is a right of victims under international law. It also stressed that in addition to paying compensation, Australia should also apologize to the families of the victims.
UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, a member of the expert group, wrote on Twitter that the Australian government should take immediate action to pay compensation to the families of the 39 victims.
In 2020, the Australian government announced that its troops had killed 39 civilians imprisoned with them in Afghanistan. Australia subsequently decided to provide compensation to the affected families.
We have been unsuccessful in engaging in dialogue with the families of innocent civilians, but some of the victims’ families have previously told RFE/RL that the Australian government’s investigation was one-sided and that their voices were not heard.
Abdul Latif, a resident of Trinkot, the capital of Uruzgan province, whose father was killed by Australian troops in the province, told RFE/RL: “Thousands of people have been killed here, Afghans have been killed brutally, but the question now is ‘These 39 are my fathers, it would be better if they all come and question all of them and investigate carefully.'”
The UN panel also said the Australian government had failed to provide the families of the victims with information about the investigation, the court or military reforms, nor to facilitate their participation in Australian court proceedings.
Legal expert Hekmatullah Hekmat said that since the Afghan Taliban rulers and their government have no diplomatic relations with any country in the world, a third international address is needed on behalf of the victims’ families. The world does not need recognition and has no legal authority to represent its people in discussions with the government that committed war crimes during NATO’s 20-year presence in Afghanistan, so a third international address is needed to investigate such incidents and assist victims in participating in the legal process. “
Between 2001 and 2021, NATO forces within the framework of the international force in Afghanistan were accused of committing war crimes by some institutions and individuals.
Australia has sent about 400 international troops to Afghanistan.
UN experts called on all governments fighting in Afghanistan to fully investigate any allegations of war crimes.
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