Physicians for Human Rights’ Call for Investigation into War Crimes Cover-Up

[babylonsister]

Physicians for Human Rights’ Call for Investigation into War Crimes Cover-Up
By: Jeff Kaye Saturday July 11, 2009 10:04 am


James Risen at the New York Times reports on a concerted campaign by U.S. officials during the Bush Administration to impede the investigation into the November 2001 mass killings by suffocation and shooting of up to 2,000 surrendered Taliban fighters by U.S.-backed warlord forces at Dasht-e-Leili, Afghanistan (emphasis added).

American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation — sought by officials from the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups — because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the C.I.A., and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several officials said. They said the United States also worried about undermining the American-supported government of President Hamid Karzai, in which General Dostum had served as a defense official....

The question of culpability for the prisoner deaths — which may have been the most significant war crime in Afghanistan after the 2001 American-led invasion — has taken on new urgency since the general, an important ally of Mr. Karzai, was reinstated to his government post last month.

"Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) has issued a call for a criminal probe, citing new evidence that the Bush Administration impeded at least three federal investigations into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan in 2002." It is also calling for Attorney General Eric Holder "to investigate why the Bush Administration impeded an FBI criminal probe of the alleged Dasht-e-Leili massacre."

Late Friday, the Obama administration announced it would not investigate the killings, as they claim there was "no indication that U.S. military forces were there, or involved, or had any knowledge of this."

In a statement of their own late Friday, PHR countered the U.S. denial of responsibility to investigate:

"For US Government officials to claim that there is no legal basis to investigate this well-documented mass atrocity is absurd," stated Physicians for Human Rights Deputy Director Susannah Sirkin. "US military and intelligence personnel were operating jointly and accepted the surrender of the prisoners jointly with General Dostum's forces in northern Afghanistan. The Obama Administration has a legal obligation to determine what US officials knew, where US personnel were, what involvement they had, and the actions of US allies during and after the massacre. These questions, nearly eight years later, remain unanswered."

"Furthermore," added Nathaniel Raymond, PHR's lead researcher on the Dasht-e-Leili case, "The New York Times has shown that the Bush Administration engaged in a coordinated effort to prevent this alleged war crime from ever being investigated. Under the Geneva Conventions, the cover-up of a war crime can itself constitute a war crime."

more...

http://firedoglake.com/2009/07/11/support-phr-call-for-investigation-of-us-cover-up-of-major-afghan-war-crime/

[TexasObserver]

1. K&R

The quality of the threads you start is high, and that makes you an exception among those who start a lot of threads.

[horseshoecrab]

2. K&R

and thanks for posting this babylonsister.


horseshoecrab

[snot]

3. k&r'd