This deserves a Royal Commission

14 Notes

A report in the Guardian newspaper yesterday has confirmed speculation that Australian soldiers handed over POWs captured in Iraq to US forces, in contravention of the Geneva convention. This topic has been raised previously and was then still ignored by the vast majority of the mainstream media. The Defence department has denied for years that Australian soldiers were involved in any manner in these black sites (which were commonly used to torture prisoners for further information). The Guardian outlines in quite harrowing detail how these prisoners were mistreated whilst being transported (resulting in several deaths), and how many of them had been detained without any evidence of criminal involvement.

There’s no need to reiterate that prisoners were tortured by their US captors, Abu Ghraib alone provides enough evidence available here. It’s a matter of record that the US used off books sites that weren’t open to the Red Cross to torture prisoners. A utilitarian ‘ticking time bomb’ argument might be made in favour of the use of enhanced interrogation of these prisoners, yet there is no evidence whatsoever that torture works. Not just that but prominent individuals in the US intelligence community are coming out and stating bluntly that torture is counterproductive.

Alexander Downer and other officials from the government at the time have attacked the truthfulness of the claims saying they are overstated and overblown. This puts him at odds with the US Military report which directly implicates an SAS Squadron known as “Task Force 64” in the operation of this facility “H1”. “H1” has now been confirmed by the Guardian and other sources to have been one of these secret prisons or black sites. What does this say about Downer’s claims? There are only a few possibilities. Is he ignorant of what was happening at the time? Is he concealing what he knows and thus lying about events? Have the US made an egregious error in their reporting? Either we are operating on bad information (information the Guardian saw was verifiable enough to publish and report on), Downer is ignorant, or he is lying. That is not a particularly good look for an ex-Minister.

This evidence absolutely justifies a Royal Commission into these events. If there is evidence of criminal misconduct the commissions must end in potential court martials or criminal trials depending on where those involved fit into the military and civilian infrastructure. The government must take swift action and provide justice for those who have been harmed by the actions of the Australian military. If sections of the military have operated in contravention to the Geneva convention, restitution must be provided. The government must enforce the seriousness of our commitment to these principles. Either our military acts in accordance with treaties our nation has signed or it does not. We must treat breaches of these principles as severely as possible. If our armed forces are seen to be operating in contravention to them, not only does the efficacy and safety of those forces decrease, but our standing amongst the nations of the world is irrevocably tarnished.