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| Date | 22 March 2023 – (in progress) |
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| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Also known as | Afghan Unlawful Killing inquiry |
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| Website | www |
The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan is a 2023 British public inquiry into extrajudicial killings that took place in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, during the War in Afghanistan. [1]
The UK Government's plan to hold the inquiry was initially announced by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace in December 2022. [2] It followed a BBC Panorama investigation that reported that British special forces killed 54 Afghan detainees in suspicious circumstances during their tours of Afghanistan. [3] [4]
The inquiry was launched on 22 March 2023 and is chaired by judge Charles Haddon-Cave. [1]
The inquiry planned to focus on night-time raids, known as Deliberate Detention Operations, including the 2012 Shesh Aba raid. Terms of reference included investigating the alleged cover-ups of the fatal incidents. [5]
Law firm Leigh Day represents families of the bereaved, [1] Brian Altman represents the Ministry of Defence. [6]
The judge, Charles Haddon-Cave has the authority to compel witnesses to testify. [3]
The inquiry centres around the activities of British special forces. The Ministry of Defence initially made an application to prevent the British public from hearing criticisms of the special forces, but abandoned that ambition on 3 July 2023. [6]
Minister of State for Veterans' Affairs Johnny Mercer gave oral evidence to the inquiry on 21 February 2024. [7]
Hundreds of former members of the Afghan Territorial Force (ATF) 444 and Commando Force (CF) 333 that were part of the Ministry of Interior Affairs General Command of Police Special Units who were trained by and fought alongside UK Special Forces have been refused resettlement to the UK. [8] [9] One former UK Special Forces officer told the BBC that "At a time when certain actions by UK Special Forces are under investigation by a public inquiry, their headquarters also had the power to prevent former Afghan Special Forces colleagues and potential witnesses to these actions from getting safely to the UK." [10]
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957 as a company, it was modelled on the British SAS with which it shares the motto, "Who Dares Wins". Expanded to a regiment in August 1964, it is based at Campbell Barracks, in Swanbourne, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, and is a direct command unit of the Special Operations Command.
The Australian contribution to the war in Afghanistan has been known as Operation Slipper (2001–2014) and Operation Highroad (2015–2021).
The Boeing Chinook is a large, tandem rotor helicopter operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). A series of variants based on the United States Army's Boeing CH-47 Chinook, the RAF Chinook fleet is the largest outside the United States. RAF Chinooks have seen extensive service in the Falklands War, the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Maya (Anne) Evans is a councillor on Hastings Borough Council representing Hollington ward in East Sussex. Since being first elected in 2018, Maya has been Armed Forces champion of Hastings, led a working group to reduce single-use plastics, and appointed cabinet member for climate change, natural environment and leisure. During the pandemic she held a senior position within the council; this ensured Hollington was always prioritised and received essential services. Maya is currently cabinet member for Environment and was described as the ‘climate change champion’ in 2019.
In English law, Irish law and Northern Irish law, unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales and Ireland when someone has been killed by one or more unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of criminal law. This includes murder, manslaughter, infanticide and causing death by dangerous driving. A verdict of unlawful killing generally leads to a police investigation, with the aim of gathering sufficient evidence to identify, charge and prosecute those responsible.
Baha Mousa was an Iraqi man who died while in British Army custody in Basra, Iraq in September 2003. The inquiry into his death found that Mousa's death was caused by "factors including lack of food and water, heat, exhaustion, fear, previous injuries and the hooding and stress positions used by British troops - and a final struggle with his guards". The inquiry heard that Mousa was hooded for almost 24 hours during his 36 hours of custody by the 1st Battalion of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment and that he suffered at least 93 injuries before his death. The report later details that Mousa was subject to several practices banned under both domestic law and the Geneva Conventions. Seven British soldiers were charged in connection with the case. Six were found not guilty. Corporal Donald Payne pleaded guilty to inhumane treatment of a prisoner and was jailed for a year and dismissed from the Army. On 19 September 2006 with his guilty plea to inhumane treatment of Mousa, Payne became the first British soldier to admit to a war crime.
The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom against the Taliban regime in autumn 2001.
The Canadian Afghan detainee issue concerns Government of Canada or the Canadian Forces (CF) knowledge of abusive treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. The abuse occurred after Afghans were detained by Canadian Forces, and subsequently transferred to the Afghan National Army (ANA) or the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) during the War in Afghanistan. The issue has sparked heated debate since Article 12 of the Third Geneva Convention states that "the Detaining Power [Canada] is responsible for the treatment given [to prisoners of war]". If the allegations of torture are true it would mean Canada is guilty of war crimes.
US and NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations, alongside Afghan National Army forces, continued against the Taliban through 2007.
United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is a directorate comprising the Special Air Service, the Special Boat Service, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, the Special Forces Support Group, 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing. In British freedom of information law, "special forces" has been defined as "those units of the armed forces of the Crown and the maintenance of whose capabilities is the responsibility of the Director of Special Forces or which are for the time being subject to the operational command of that Director". The Royal Marine Commandos and the Ranger Regiment are special operations–capable forces, but they do not form part of UKSF.
Sir Charles Anthony Haddon-Cave, styled The Rt Hon Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, is a British judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and served as the Senior Presiding Judge for England and Wales from 2021 to 2022.
General Sir Mark Alexander Popham Carleton-Smith, is a senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff from June 2018 to June 2022. He previously served as Director Special Forces and commanded 22 Special Air Service Regiment.
Mark Willacy is an Australian investigative journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). He, along with ABC Investigations-Four Corners team, won the 2020 Gold Walkley for their special report Killing Field, which covered alleged Australian war crimes. He has been awarded six other minor Walkley awards and two Queensland Clarion Awards for Queensland Journalist of the Year. Willacy is currently based in Brisbane, and was previously a correspondent in the Middle East and North Asia. He is the author of three books. In 2023, Willacy was found to have defamed Heston Russell, a former special forces commander, after making unproven allegations of war crimes.
John Luther Mercer is a former British Conservative Party politician and former British Army officer who served as Minister of State for Veterans’ Affairs from July to September 2022 and from October 2022 to July 2024. He was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence People and Veterans from July 2019 to April 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, Mercer served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Plymouth Moor View from 2015 to 2024.
General Gwyn Jenkins, is a senior Royal Marines officer, who served as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff from August 2022 to June 2024. He was concurrently appointed Commandant General Royal Marines in November 2022.
The Afghan Files are a set of Australian Defence Force documents about the operation of Australia's special forces in Afghanistan. The documents were leaked to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) by David McBride, and seven stories were ultimately published as a result. The documents covered a wide range of topics, however most notably it detailed multiple cases of possible unlawful killings of unarmed men and children. In response to the leak, the Australian Federal Police raided the ABC's offices in June 2019, confiscating all material related to the matter.
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry Report, commonly known as the Brereton Report, is a report into war crimes 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 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.
War crimes in Afghanistan covers the period of conflict from 1979 to the present. Starting with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, 40 years of civil war in various forms has wracked Afghanistan. War crimes have been committed by all sides.
The war in Afghanistan ended with the Taliban victorious when the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan. The aftermath has been characterized by marked change in the social and political order of Afghanistan as Taliban took over the country once again after the fall of Kabul in 2021.
The Shesh Aba raid was a raid by the British Special Air Service in Shesh Aba village, Nimruz Province, Afghanistan on August 7, 2012, during which British armed forces killed two young parents and injured their two sons. The commander of the special forces did not report the fatal incident to military police.
