Australia strips honours from military personnel accused of war crimes in Afghanistan

September 12 () –

The Australian government has withdrawn the medals awarded to a group of military personnel accused of war crimes committed during their deployment in Afghanistan, despite the possibility of successful criminal proceedings against some of these individuals.

In 2020, a commission of inquiry implicated around twenty Australian soldiers in the murders of 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians between 2005 and 2016. “It will always be a disgrace to us as a nation,” Defence Minister Richard Marles lamented in Parliament on Wednesday.

The minister has announced that an undetermined number of people will be stripped of their honours, whose identity he has not revealed for privacy reasons. Marles, who has cited the 2020 report as a reference, has clarified that there are less than ten and has pointed to the responsibility of the commanders, not so much of the soldiers.

“The inquiry, its recommendations and the actions of successive governments demonstrate to the Australian people and the world that Australia is an accountable country,” he said, with specific recognition of members of the Armed Forces who assisted in the investigation, ABC reported.

The government is still aiming to bring military officers accused of war crimes to justice, but the minister has already indicated that any prosecution in this area could still take several years.