CNN
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A former soldier is the first serving Australian serviceman or veteran to be charged with war crime murder for the alleged murder of a civilian while on deployment in Afghanistan.
The 41-year-old man was charged in New South Wales on Monday, according to a joint statement from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI).
“It will be alleged that he killed an Afghan man while on deployment to Afghanistan with the Australian Defense Force,” the AFP statement said.
The maximum sentence for the charge is life imprisonment, the statement said. The man has been taken into custody and will face court at a later date, it added.
His arrest follows a four-year investigation into alleged crimes committed by Australian troops in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
In 2020, the long-awaited report from the Australian Defense Force Inspector General concluded that Australian elite forces allegedly unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners.
The ADF has recommended that 19 Australian Special Forces individuals be investigated for 36 alleged war crimes, including murder and brutal treatment of non-combatants in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2013.
The investigation described an environment where “bloodlust” and “competition kills” were reportedly the norm. It alleged that some patrol commanders required young soldiers to shoot prisoners to commit their first kill, in a process known as “bleeding.”
The report said it presented “credible information” that weapons or portable radios were then sometimes placed through a body to make it appear as if the person had been killed in action.
None of the 39 alleged unlawful killings took place in the heat of battle, according to the report, and the Afghans who died were either non-combatants or no longer combatants.
Monday’s AFP statement said it continues to work with the OSI “to investigate allegations of offenses under Australian law related to violations of the laws of armed conflict by Australian Defense Force personnel in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. ”