-Caveat Lector- -----Original Message----- From: International Justice Watch Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of ICAI Sent: Wednesday, June 26, 2002 6:34 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: AW: Documentary of US 'war crimes' shocks Europe
According to the German newspaper "Der Spiegel", several Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) plan to travel to Afghanistan to investigate the alleged massacre. The MEPs intent to invite representatives of ai and MSF to join the delegation which is supposed to visit the war-torn country in the second week of July. Michael -------------------------------------- International Campaign against Impunity - icai Michael Schmitt - International Coordinator Rue Saint-Francois 26-28 1210 Brussels Tel: +32-485-322582 [EMAIL PROTECTED] visit www.icai-online.org Source http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,202608,00.html MASSAKER-VORWURF GEGEN US-TRUPPEN Europa-Parlament startet Untersuchung Von Nicole Janz Nachdem ein Dokumentarfilmer Zeugenaussagen uber angebliche Massaker an mehreren tausend Taliban-Gefangenen in Afghanistan prasentierte, wollen nun Abgeordnete des Europaischen Parlaments das angebliche Massengrab ausfindig machen. Berlin - An der Delegation, die in der zweiten Juliwoche nach Afghanistan fliegen soll, nehmen Abgeordnete mehrerer Fraktionen des Europaparlaments in Stra?burg teil. "Die Linken, die Grunen und Sozialdemokraten haben die Teilnahme bereits zugesagt", erklarte Andre Brie, PDS-Abgeordneter im EP. Man wolle auch Experten der Organisationen Arzte ohne Grenzen und Amnesty International einladen, sagte Brie. Schon vor zwei Wochen hatte der irische Fernsehjournalist Jamie Doran, der auch fur die BBC arbeitet, den Vorwurf erhoben, dass Kampfer der afghanischen Nordallianz im November 2001 unter den Augen von US-Kommandeuren ein Massaker an 3000 gefangenen Taliban-Kampfern begangen hatten. In seiner auf Initiative der PDS-Fraktion im Bundestag vorgefuhrten Filmdokumentation hatten mehrere Zeugen berichtet, dass die Gefangenen in der Region von Mazar-i-Scharif im Beisein von US-Soldaten hingerichtet worden sein sollen. Das amerikanische Au?enministerium hatte die Vorwurfe sofort als "unbegrundet" zuruckgewiesen. Die Forderungen nach einer Untersuchung durch eine unabhangige Internationale Kommission stie? bei den Regierungen der Anti-Terror-Allianz bisher auf taube Ohren - nach Meinung von Amnesty International eine nicht akzeptable Verweigerung. "Mit der Zeit wird es immer schwieriger, Beweise uber ein eventuelles Massengrab zu finden", warnt Iris Schneider, Sprecherin des Internationalen Sekretariats der Organisation in London. Amnesty hatte schon nach dem blutig niedergeschlagenen Aufstand der Taliban in der Festung Kala-i-Jangi die Einberufung einer Internationalen Untersuchungskommission gefordert. "Darin sehen wir uns jetzt noch mehr bestatigt", sagte Schneider. Um die Aufklarung der Vorwurfe voranzubringen, machen auch einige Bundestagsabgeordnete Druck auf die Regierung. Nach dem Grunen Hans-Christian Strobele, der schriftliche Fragen an die Regierung gerichtet hatte, hat nun auch die PDS-Bundestagsfraktion ihre Forderungen erneuert. In einem offenen Brief an Au?enminister Joschka Fischer (Grune) fragt der stellvertretende Fraktionsvorsitzende Wolfgang Gehrcke, "ob deutschen Stellen eigene Erkenntnisse vorliegen". Das Au?enministerium solle es nicht bei den "rasch erfolgten" Dementis des Pentagon belassen, so Gehrcke. Das Auswartige Amt hingegen wehrt sich: "Wir sind sehr an der Aufklarung der Sache interessiert", sagte eine Sprecherin am Dienstag. Man stehe in Gesprachen mit dem US State Department und wolle auch Kontakt zur afghanischen Ubergangsregierung aufnehmen. Die sei, so die Entschuldigung fur die zweiwochige Verzogerung, ja erst kurzlich gewahlt worden. Zur Untersuchung konne sich das Auswartige Amt auch eine Art "Wahrheitskommission" in Zusammenarbeit mit den Vereinten Nationen vorstellen, so die Sprecherin. Allerdings sei das noch kein fester Plan, nur eine Idee von vielen. Solange, bis sich die Behorden geeinigt haben, will Andre Brie nicht warten. Er versucht im Moment, auch Mitglieder der Liberalen und Konservativen im Europaischen Parlament zur Reise nach Afghanistan zu bewegen. Schwierig sei es auch, die Sicherheit zu gewahrleisten. "Wir hoffen auf Geleitschutz der Uno-Vertretung in Kabul", sagte Brie. Ob die Uno allerdings dazu in der Lage ist, ist fraglich. Ein Sprecher berichtete am Dienstag davon, dass mehrere Hilfsorganisationen zurzeit einen vollstandigen Ruckzug aus der Region Mazar-i-Scharif erwagen. Die Hilfskrafte waren Opfer zahlreicher Ubergriffe geworden. -----Ursprungliche Nachricht----- Von: International Justice Watch Discussion List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Im Auftrag von Thomas Keenan Gesendet: Saturday, June 15, 2002 07:53 An: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Betreff: Documentary of US 'war crimes' shocks Europe Cross-posting of commentary only permitted Getting a lot of play in Europe and elsewhere - but no reaction in the US except for a UPI report carried by the Washington Times, and a pre-emptive dismissal in the Wall Street Journal, as far as I can tell -- is a documentary called MASSACRE AT MAZAR, which charges that (as South Africa's respected _Independent_ puts it): "American soldiers have been involved in the torture and murder of captured Taliban prisoners, and may have aided in the 'disappearance' of up to 3 000 men in the region of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to Jamie Doran, an Irish documentary film- maker." UPI reporters Gareth Harding and Elizabeth Manning write, on the basis of what apprently is a 20-minute rough-cut of Doran's film, screened in Berlin and Strasbourg earlier this week, After interrogation in Sheberghan jail, the film charges, thousands of Taliban prisoners were driven to the Dasht Leili desert in container trucks by their Northern Alliance captors and summarily executed. Doran's documentary quotes eyewitnesses as saying 30-40 American troops were present at the execution. The Afghan driver of one container truck, in which 200-300 prisoners were crammed, told the film-makers he shot holes in the side to provide ventilation. Over half the prisoners died on route to the desert, the driver says. Another witness, who described smelling rotting flesh from the containers when filling his car with petrol, told the filmmaker: "Blood was leaking from the vehicles. It was horrible." Doran has exclusive footage of the desert scene where the alleged massacre took place. Skulls, clothing and limbs still protrude from the mounds of sand, more than six months after the alleged massacre. The documentary has not yet been broadcast, but Doran's earlier footage of the aftermath of the Qala-i-Changi uprising -- including prisoners who had apparently been shot with their hands tied -- ignited controversy about the conduct of American special operations troops and their Northern Alliance allies during the dying days of the Taliban regime. It bears noting that the desert at Dasht Leili was apparently the scene of a major corpse-disposal operation by the Taliban in 1998, acording to Human Rights Watch ("THE MASSACRE IN MAZAR-I SHARIF"): http://www.hrw.org/reports98/afghan/Afrepor0-02.htm Links below, see also http://www.sueddeutsche.de/aktuell/sz/artikel3366.php http://www.dagsavisen.no/utenriks/2002/06/661322.shtml Thomas Keenan Human Rights Project Bard College ========================= http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/13062002-045203-1541r.htm Copyright 2002 News World Communications, Inc. WASHINGTON TIMES June 13, 2002 Pentagon denies Afghan torture claims By Gareth Harding and Elizabeth Manning UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL The Pentagon Thursday described as "highly suspect in the face of it" allegations that U.S. troops had tortured Taliban and al Qaida prisoners in Afghanistan, and denied outright charges that American soldiers had done nothing to prevent the massacre of some 3,000 captured Islamic fighters who had surrendered to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance. The claims come in an explosive documentary by award-winning British filmmaker Jamie Doran -- screened Wednesday for members of the European Parliament at their headquarters in Strasbourg, France. The film documents events following the Nov. 21 fall of Konduz, the Taliban's last stronghold in northern Afghanistan. The Islamic fighters who surrendered were taken to the Qala-i-Changi fort near Mazar-i-Sharif, headquarters of the notorious Northern Alliance warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum. On Nov. 25, the fort was the scene of a revolt by hard-core Taliban and al Qaida prisoners, apparently incensed by the presence of U.S. Special Forces among their captors. The uprising was bloodily suppressed with the help of American air power. Subsequently, about 7,500 prisoners were taken to a crowded jail in Sheberghan. In the film a witness charged that American interrogators tortured suspected al Qaida members there. The witness tells the interviewer: "I was a witness when an American soldier broke one prisoner's neck and poured acid on others." But Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dave Lapan denied the charges to United Press International in Washington. He said he did not know whether U.S. Central Command in Florida -- which runs the war in Afghanistan -- had looked into allegations of torture, "but I would consider them highly suspect in the face of it." "Our service members don't participate in torture of any type," he went on. He said U.S. soldiers are "highly trained, professional and trained in the laws of war and proper conduct." After interrogation in Sheberghan jail, the film charges, thousands of Taliban prisoners were driven to the Dasht Leili desert in container trucks by their Northern Alliance captors and summarily executed. Doran's documentary quotes eyewitnesses as saying 30-40 American troops were present at the execution. The Afghan driver of one container truck, in which 200-300 prisoners were crammed, told the film-makers he shot holes in the side to provide ventilation. Over half the prisoners died on route to the desert, the driver says. Another witness, who described smelling rotting flesh from the containers when filling his car with petrol, told the filmmaker: "Blood was leaking from the vehicles. It was horrible." Doran has exclusive footage of the desert scene where the alleged massacre took place. Skulls, clothing and limbs still protrude from the mounds of sand, more than six months after the alleged massacre. The documentary has not yet been broadcast, but Doran's earlier footage of the aftermath of the Qala-i-Changi uprising -- including prisoners who hand apparently been shot with their hands tied -- ignited controversy about the conduct of American special operations troops and their Northern Alliance allies during the dying days of the Taliban regime. French Euro-MP Francis Wurtz, whose left-wing group organized the special screening, said he would call for an urgent debate in the European Parliament at the next session in July. "We reject categorically that the ends justify the means," he told reporters. "You can't fight terrorism by treading human rights under foot." The Pentagon's Lapan told UPI that Central Command individually questioned its forces in the area several months ago following the discovery of graves at Dasht Leili and subsequent accusations that U.S. soldiers either witnessed the massacre or were aware it took place. "Central Command looked into it and found no evidence of participation or knowledge or presence," he said. "Our guys weren't there, didn't watch and didn't know about it -- if indeed anything like that happened." Filmmaker Doran, on the other hand, insisted the Afghans he interviewed who said they saw either torture by U.S. troops or their presence at the massacre were from different tribes, had no personal axes to grind and were not paid for their contributions. Their names were withheld solely to protect them, he added. "They had absolutely nothing to gain from being in the film, but they had their lives to lose," he said, adding that a further 20 Afghan soldiers in addition to the six principal witnesses in the film have since indicated their willingness to talk about what happened. The independent filmmaker, whose documentaries have been seen in over 35 countries, said he decided to release a rough-cut of his account because he feared Afghan forces were poised to cover up evidence. "It is absolutely essential that the site of the mass grave is protected; otherwise the evidence will disappear," Doran told UPI in an interview after the film's debut in Strasbourg. Leading international human rights lawyer Andrew McEntee, who was also present at the special screening, said it was "clear there is prima facie evidence of serious war crimes committed not just under international law but also under the laws of the United States itself." McEntee called for an independent investigation into the affair. "No functioning criminal justice system can choose to ignore this evidence," he said. -- (UPI European Correspondent Harding reported from Strasbourg, France and Deputy Foreign Editor Manning from Washington.) ------------------------------ http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1023894901416B265&set_id= 1 Published on the Web by IOL on 2002-06-12 17:28:44 Copyright Independent Online 2002. All rights reserved. INDEPENDENT ON LINE (South Africa) Documentary of US 'war crimes' shocks Europe By Clive Freeman Berlin - American soldiers have been involved in the torture and murder of captured Taliban prisoners, and may have aided in the "disappearance" of up to 3 000 men in the region of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to Jamie Doran, an Irish documentary film-maker. Doran's latest film, Massacre At Mazar, was shown on Wednesday in in the Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin, and there were immediate calls for an international commission to be set up to investigate charges made in the documentary. Andrew McEntee, a leading international human rights lawyer, who has viewed the film footage and read full transcripts, believes there is prima facie evidence of serious war crimes having been committed by American soldiers in Afghanistan. McEntee, who was in Berlin for Wednesday's special screening, said war crimes had been committed not just under international law but, also, "under the laws of the United States itself". Much of the footage shown in Doran's 20-minute documentary was taken secretly, and although witnesses were said to be living in fear of reprisal from within Afghanistan itself they had all agreed to appear at any future international war crimes tribunal to give evidence, it was claimed. One witness in the film claimed he had seen an American soldier break an Afghan prisoner's neck and pour acid on others. "The Americans did whatever they wanted. We had no power to stop them," he alleged. Sometimes prisoners who were beaten up and taken outside had "disappeared", he said. In other sequences witnesses, among them two men, claimed they had been forced to drive into the desert with hundreds of Taliban prisoners. The living were then summarily shot while 30 to 40 American soldiers purportedly stood by, it was alleged. The prisoners had been taken there on the orders of the local American commander, according to the documentary. In the film, an Afghan witness admitted to killing prisoners himself, and another officer, allegedly a senior officer in the army of deputy defence minister Dostum's forces, was said to have gone into hiding following threats to his life. The far-left Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) arranged for the special showing of Massacre At Mazar in the Reichstag. Party chairman Roland Claus was cautious regarding its content but did spoke of its attempt at "authenticity." Andre Brie, a PDS member of the European Parliament, concerned by reports of ill treatment of Taliban prisoners, said he would be in favour of an international commission looking into "disturbing" questions raised by the film. At a press conference Brie said he had known of Doran's dangerous film activity in Afghanistan, and had helped to support him financially. The PDS party faction had wanted to obtain authentic footage of the war in Afghanistan, he said. The film was due to be screened at the European Parliament in Strasbourg later on Wednesday evening. - Sapa-DPA ------------------ http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:4LsQBrRWBJcC:www.opinionjournal.com/bes t/+%22jamie+Doran%22+Taliban&hl=en THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Thursday, June 13, 2002 1:44 p.m. EDT Best of the Web Today BY JAMES TARANTO [...] Red Alert Jamie Doran, an Irish filmmaker, is making the rounds in Europe, showing a documentary that, he claims, shows American soldiers torturing prisoners in Afghanistan. Independent Online, a South African news site, says Doran was in Germany yesterday: The far-left Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) arranged for the special showing of Massacre At Mazar in the Reichstag. Party chairman Roland Claus was cautious regarding its content but did spoke of its attempt at "authenticity." Andre Brie, a PDS member of the European Parliament, concerned by reports of ill treatment of Taliban prisoners, said he would be in favour of an international commission looking into "disturbing" questions raised by the film. For those not familiar with the intricacies of German politics, the PDS used to go by a different name: the East German Communist Party. The commies, we seem to recall, do not have the best humanitarian record in Afghanistan. ------------ http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4432502,00.html Copright Guardian Unlimited /Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002 The Guardian Thursday June 13, 2002 New film accuses US of war crimes Kate Connolly in Berlin and Rory McCarthy in Islamabad A former chairman of Amnesty International yesterday called for an independent investigation into claims that US troops tortured Taliban prisoners and assisted in the disappearance of thousands of others in the war in Afghanistan. Andrew McEntee said that "very credible evidence" in a British documentary film needed to be investigated. He was speaking after the first showing in Berlin of the film, Massacre at Mazar. "This film raises questions that will not go away," said Mr McEntee, who led Amnesty International UK in the 1990s and is now an international human rights lawyer. The documentary describes how thousands of Taliban troops were rounded up after the battle of Kunduz in late November and transported in sealed shipping containers to Sheberghan prison, a jail then under US control in northwestern Afghanistan. The film alleges that large numbers of the prisoners died during the journey. US troops suggested the drivers take the bodies out into the desert at Dasht-i-Leili for burial. Two men said they were forced to drive hundreds of Taliban, many of whom were still alive, into the desert, and said that the living were shot. Footage showed large areas of compact red sand dotted with the traces of bones, including jaw bones, and pieces of clothing. The filmmakers claim that thousands of Afghans, Pakistanis, Uzbeks, Chechens and Tajiks may now be buried at the mass grave. UN and human rights officials have found the grave but have not estimated the number it contains. Only 15 bodies have been excavated. A Pentagon spokesman last night denied the allegations: "US Central Command looked into it a few months ago, when allegations first surfaced when there were graves discovered in the area of Sherberghan prison. They looked into it and did not substantiate any knowledge, presence or participation of US service members." The film's six witnesses have agreed to give evidence at any international war crimes tribunal. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. 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