Defence Ministry: Australia Scores Big in Handling Detained Afghan Insurgents
As Australia prepares to wind down its Afghan Mission, the Defence Ministry reported to the Parliament on Thursday that Diggers operating in Afghanistan gained considerable success in handling insurgents that were captured since last year.
Defence Minister Stephen Smith, however, informed his colleagues that some cases of detainee mistreatments have emerged, most of which have been set aside by the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service (ADFIS), which found the allegations unfounded.
Of the total 91 cases that were brought to the attention of the ADFIS, 79 have been determined as lacking in substantial evidence while 12 mistreatment allegations remain under the investigation by ADFIS probers, Mr Smith said.
Overall, the Defence report has concluded that widespread detainee mistreatments have been mostly absent in Australia's area of jurisdiction in Afghanistan, which has been wracked by more than a decade of conflict between NATO member nations and the Taliban.
The conclusion was arrived at in spite of Mr Smith's admission that three Australian officials assigned with the detainee management department have been reprimanded for violations in relation with disciplinary infractions.
But officials of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) offered that if ever mistakes have committed by personnel handling Afghan insurgents, those were mostly confined on abusive languages.
So far, no prominent incidence of physical maltreatments has come under the ADF radar though the report did not provide solid evidence on such claim.
According to Defence force chief David Hurley, a review on how detainee management personnel conduct their interrogation techniques is now underway, possibly to rectify the deemed operational lapses that had occurred before.
Mr Hurley told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) that the ADF review also aims to pinpoint on unauthorised conducts by Australian personnel in questioning captured insurgents at the time of their apprehension and through their turnover to jail management officials.
Mr Smith's report said that a total of 1355 suspected insurgents were handled by Australian authorities since August last year to May 2012, mostly coming from Uruzgan and Parwan.
"Approximately 20 per cent of detainees apprehended by the ADF have undergone interrogation," the defence chief told his colleagues.
The rest, he added, were handed over to the Afghan government and U.S. authorities.
In a reaction, opposition defence personnel spokesman Stuart Robert generally lauded the efforts displayed by the Defence Ministry in managing the local insurgents that came under its jurisdiction in Afghanistan.
The detainee mistreatment allegations "seem to be limited to the use of some particularly nasty words, as opposed to any particular maltreatment," Mr Robert told AAP.
He observed that seemingly the allegations stemmed from the general confusion that would normally follow the operations where suspected insurgents were collared by the Diggers.
"Noting that most combatants caught on the battlefield will try anything to secure their release, perhaps it's understandable," Mr Robert said.
But the report would have been more comprehensive had Mr Smith opted to provide a general picture on the length of time that each captured insurgent was kept under Australian jurisdiction, he added.