The Australian government is looking for “a way forward” to compensate families of victims of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles has told legal advocates.
However, officials continue to warn about the complexity of the compensation issue, one of the key outstanding recommendations from the landmark Brereton inquiry into alleged war crimes by Australian special forces soldiers.
Human rights and legal groups have stepped up their calls for a compensation plan in the wake of Thursday’s federal court ruling dismissing the defamation case brought by former Australian solider Ben Roberts-Smith.
The full reasons in the Roberts-Smith case were expected to be published yesterday.
The government has not commented on the case itself, saying it is not a party to the civil proceedings, but has restated its commitment to acting on the Brereton report.
The four-year-long inquiry by Major General Paul Brereton found “credible” information to implicate 25 current or former Australian special forces personnel in the alleged unlawful killing of 39 individuals and the cruel treatment of two others.
Brereton’s report said Australia need not wait for a court to establish criminal liability before making compensation payments.
He argued that if there was credible information of an unlawful killing it was “simply the morally right thing to do” to pay compensation swiftly.
He also said such steps would help restore “Australia’s standing.”
Guardian Australia understands the government is working through options on the issue of compensation, but has yet to made a decision.
Marles emphasized his personal commitment to action in a letter to the Australian Centre for International Justice, a not-for-profit legal center that aims to combat impunity.
Marles told the group that since taking office, he had “made it a priority to engage with [the Australian Ministry for] Defence on the implementation of all of the recommendations arising from the Afghanistan inquiry.”
“This includes action to both address past failures and wrongdoing, and to develop the systems, culture and accountability which will prevent, and promptly detect and respond to, departures from required standards,” Marles said in the letter seen by Guardian Australia.
The letter, sent in February, has not been reported until now, but provides an update on progress.
“While significant progress has been made in relation to the implementation of recommendations, there remain a number of challenges in relation to the payment of compensation,” Marles wrote.
“Defence is continuing its close engagement with other relevant commonwealth agencies to find a way forward on this issue,” he added.
Fiona Nelson, the director of legal advocacy at the Australian Centre for International Justice, said the compensation issue was “a glaring weak spot in the government’s overall response to the inquiry.”
“Over two-and-a-half years have elapsed since those recommendations were made and yet we have no sign of any progress on the issue,” she said.
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