Australian government prepares compensation fund for victims of war crimes in Afghanistan

In 2020, a commission implicated several soldiers in the murders of nearly 40 Afghan prisoners and civilians

Jul 21. () –

The Australian government has begun proceedings to compensate families of victims of war crimes committed during the deployment of its forces in the conflict in Afghanistan, in line with the findings of a commission of inquiry that in 2020 implicated more than twenty Australian military personnel in the killings of 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians between 2005 and 2016.

According to a regulation published last Thursday and released this Sunday by the Australian channel ABC, the Government has established the figure of the Afghanistan Compensation Investigator, who will establish the identity of those people affected by crimes committed by the military.

An Australian Defence Ministry spokesman told the broadcaster that the government is firmly committed to the findings and recommendations of the so-called Brereton Report and intends to “implement them to the letter.”

The report implicated a total of 25 Australian soldiers, whose cases are under investigation. However, the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force said the government should compensate the families of the victims even before these allegations went to trial.

In addition to compensation, the Defence Forces have announced a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s “military culture” as well as changes to the chain of command to more closely monitor the performance of the military, and promised further announcements in the coming months in this regard.