CANBERRA, Apr 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Australia’s Defence Minister, Peter Dutton, pulled rank and intervened, to ensure soldiers who served in Afghanistan are not stripped of service medals, over war crime allegations.
Dutton today announced he would overrule Chief of the Defence Force, Angus Campbell’s decision, to strip more than 3,000 special forces soldiers who served in Afghanistan of their Meritorious Citation Unit (MCU).
Campbell made the unprecedented decision as a “collective punishment” for 39 murders, allegedly committed by Australian special forces troops in Afghanistan, between 2005 and 2016.
Dutton’s decision means that soldiers affected will retain their citations, unless they are found guilty of war crimes or are dismissed from the Australian Defence Force (ADF), as an accessory to a war crime or for failing to uphold army standards.
Campbell in Nov last year said, the MCU would be stripped on the recommendation of the landmark four-year inquiry, into alleged war crimes committed by Australians in Afghanistan, declaring that “units live and fight as a team.”
The Inspector General of the ADF inquiry, uncovered “credible evidence” that up to 25 special forces soldiers were involved in the alleged murders of 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.
Criminal investigations into 19 of the soldiers are ongoing.– NNN-AGENCIES