Sanctimoniousness and Justice

Prof Rajiva Wijesinha MP

During the condolence debate on Lakshman Jayakody, my fellow appointed member Mr Azwer spoke at length about killings of civilians that American soldiers had perpetrated in Afghanistan. I was not sure that he was correct to raise this in a condolence motion on the grounds that Mr Jayakody, as a pluralist who had done much for Muslims, would have been deeply upset about what was going on in Afghanistan.

But having read the report in Wikipedia, I can understand Mr Azwer’s indignation, and sympathize with his determination to say something on the issue. What the soldiers did was horrifying. It should be studied more carefully, not only so that warning signs of such brutality can be detected in advance in the future and such behaviour nipped in the bud, but also because it suggests a callousness that seems to be endemic. The murders went on over at least a four month period, and were accompanied by barbarities such as the collection of fingers and part of a skull and “finger bones, leg bones and a tooth taken from Afghan corpses”.

“Kill Team”

Alarmingly, the ‘alleged ringleader of the so-called “kill team”’ seems to have practised such monstrosities in Iraq too. Staff Sergeant Calvin Gibbs had ‘bragged of his exploits while serving in the Iraq War, saying how easily one could “toss a grenade at someone and kill them.”’ His exploits seem to have been covered up by his superior officer, who went to a village which had complained of a murdered man ‘that the cleric had been unarmed and that the shooting was a setup. “This guy was shot because he took an aggressive action against coalition forces,” Lt. Stefan Moye, the platoon leader, explained to village residents in Qualaday. “We didn’t just (expletive) come over here and just shoot him randomly. And we don’t do that.”

There seems to have been no investigation or punishment of Lt. Moye. The colonel-in-charge of the brigade also seems to have got off lightly. A secret army report is claimed to have noted that his ‘“inattentiveness to administrative matters ... may have helped create an environment in which misconduct could occur.”’ But it had ‘cleared him of responsibility stating there was no ‘causal relationship’ between the killings and his “aggressive leadership style”.’ It is also indicated that members of another battalion of the brigade also engaged in killing and made a trophy video called ‘Motorcycle Kill’, but punishment seems to have been meted out only to the men, not those responsible for them.

Psychological problems

The behaviour indicates serious psychological problems in at least some individuals, but the widespread involvement of so many soldiers suggests a systemic problem that surely should be addressed. The mother of one soldier who has been sentenced ‘accused the US government of scapegoating him: “I think the government is just playing these guys as scapegoats. The leaders dropped the ball. Who was watching over all this?” she said’. The young man, just 22, does at least seem more honest than the Judge in the case, who seems to have offered a cover up that should have led in my view to disciplinary action against him too ‘During his hearing he was asked by Judge Lieutenant Colonel Kwasi Hawks “Were you going to shoot at (civilians) to scare them and it got out of hand?”. Morlock replied: “The plan was to kill people, sir”.’

‘Der Spiegel’

The story broke in the German newspaper ‘Der Spiegel’. Surprisingly, it has received little attention in the Western media, which is more concerned with crucifying Sri Lanka. Typical was the ignorance of this incident on the part of a Swiss journalist who was questioning me about the allegations against us in the Darusman Report and the Channel 4 film. Her companion was I think better informed, but obviously, though they granted that what had happened was appalling and needed to be brought to public notice, she too was not going to make a story about this. Thankfully they did not make the facile claim that there has been an investigation, indicating that as claimed by the US army, it ‘will relentlessly pursue the truth, no matter where it leads’.

The whitewashing of the senior leadership, the leading question of the Judge, the failure to look at what Gibbs was up to in Iraq, suggest that this is just eyewash. I was reminded then of the bright young man from I think the State Department who told me proudly, when I mentioned the Rodney King affair, that the perpetrators had been tried, which showed what a just country he came from. I think he was surprised when I pointed out that the perpetrators had been acquitted, in spite of incontrovertible evidence on film.

Pressure on Ban-Ki-Moon

So, there being different rules for the strong and for the weak, it is not likely that there will be pressure on poor Ban Ki-Moon to appoint a panel to advise him on accountability issues with regard to Afghanistan, nor that Channel 4 will produce a film that delves deep into what the Brigade was up to.

Meanwhile Britain has just published the report of an inquiry into the murder of a hotel clerk. The young man’s ‘nose was broken and part of the skin of his face had been torn away’. The judge who inquired said ‘It is not possible to determine the identities of everyone involved in killing him’ though it was apparent that other troops had also assaulted the detainees. Though the commanding officer was acquitted, it was noted that he ‘ought to have known what was going on in that building’. The one guard who was ‘singled out’ served one year in prison.

I append the Wikipedia account of the Afghan aberrations below. The whole report is horrifying, but in addition to the sections quoted, what it says about Andrew Holmes and Adam Winfield indicates how deep the rot had gone, how youngsters could so easily be corrupted in an atmosphere of irresponsibility, and how the army manages subtly to make it clear that whistle blowing will be punished as harshly as murder.

To be continued