Defence Minister Richard Marles says he has a number of recommendations on his deck regarding alleged Afghanistan war crimes. Photo: ADF.
Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will meet with Senator Jacqui Lambie today to discuss her referral of senior ADF commanders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Speaking at a doorstop at Parliament House late yesterday (20 June), Mr Marles said that, contrary to Senator Lambie’s claims that the government had done nothing regarding allegations of war crimes stemming from the 2020 Brereton Report, he had a number of recommendations on his desk.
“Justice Brereton’s report is an extraordinary document and it reflects an incredibly important piece of work on behalf of our nation, given the appalling nature of the allegations which are contained within his report,” Mr Marles said.
“And the service which Justice Brereton has done for our country is that he has given us an opportunity to deal with this, and our government intends to do that.”
Following rumours and allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, in 2016, then Chief of Army Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell referred the situation to the Inspector-General of the ADF (IGADF), who subsequently directed that an inquiry be held. That enquiry was conducted by Paul Brereton, a judge of the NSW Supreme Court and a Major General in the Army Reserve.
The Brereton Report was delivered in November 2020 and found that the actions of several Australian Special Forces members were “disgraceful and a profound betrayal of the Australian Defence Force’s professional standards and expectations”.
It said that credible information existed of 23 incidents in which one or more non-combatants were unlawfully killed by or at the direction of Australian Special Forces, which may constitute the war crime of murder.
Senator Lambie said yesterday she had been trying to meet with Mr Marles about the alleged war crimes “for months” and had referred the matter to the ICC in the hope it would trigger the Australian Government to do something.
“We have filed with the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague an Article 15 communication,” she said in a statement yesterday.
“This asks him to look at Australia’s higher commanders through the lens of command responsibility.”
Under Article 15, the ICC says that any individual, group, or organisation can send information on alleged or potential ICC crimes to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC. In the first instance, the ICC will likely refer the matter back to the Australian Government for serious consideration and response.
Mr Marles defended the government’s handling of the allegations.
“From the moment that we were elected, we made clear that we will seek to implement the recommendations of the Brereton Report to the fullest possible extent,” he said.
“Under the Albanese Government, Australia is holding itself to account. The Chief of the Defence Force has been pursuing a process in respect of command accountability consistent with the recommendations of the Brereton Report. And from the very first days of our government, he has done that with our full support.
“That process, in turn, has led to a number of recommendations which now sit on my desk and I am seeking the appropriate advice in respect of those recommendations and will act on them in due course.”
When asked by media if Australian military officers were getting off scot-free as part of a cover-up as Senator Lambie had alleged, Mr Marles noted that “a key recommendation of the Brereton Report was around command accountability, the accountability of commanders”.
“That’s why the Chief of the Defence Force has been pursuing the process that he has, which has led to the recommendations which, as I’ve said, are now sitting upon my desk. I will be seeking the appropriate advice in order to act on those recommendations, which I will do in due course.
“The allegations which are at the heart of all of this, as I’ve said, are serious and they are grave,” he said.
“This needs to be done thoroughly and properly and it will take the time that it takes. But what’s most important is not the time that it takes but that the process is done fully and thoroughly, and that’s what I intend to do.”
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