US had role in Taleban prisoner deaths
ANDREW McLEOD foreign editor
http://www.news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=648372002
US SOLDIERS took part in the torture of Taleban
prisoners and may have had a role in the
"disappearance" of around 3,000 men in Mazar-i-Sharif
in north-west Afghanistan, according to a new
documentary.
Massacre at Mazar, by Scots film producer Jamie Doran,
was shown on Wednesday in the Reichstag, the German
parliament building in Berlin and the European
parliament in Strasbourg.
Much of Mr Doran’s footage in the 20-minute preview of
a future full-length documentary film was taken
secretly.
In one sequence, a witness claims he saw a US 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." Some prisoners were beaten up,
taken outside only to "disappear", the witness said.
Two other witnesses claim they were forced to drive
into the desert with hundreds of Taleban prisoners who
were in containers. The orders came from the local US
commander, they alleged. Prisoners who had not
suffocated to death were then shot dead while 30 to 40
US soldiers stood by watching.
In another sequence, a witness admits to having
executed prisoners, while another Afghan, said to have
been a senior officer under the Northern Alliance’s
General Rashid Dostum, was said to have gone into
hiding following threats to his life.
The screening of the film at the European Parliament
in prompted calls for an international commission to
investigate the charges.
Mr Doran told The Scotsman last night: "I took the
footage to the European parliament because of a phone
call I received from Afghanistan. I have a great fear
that the graves may be tampered with. I had to take it
to the highest level in Europe." He said that after
the screening, MEPs had told him they would approach
the Red Cross to ensure the graves were protected.
Mr Doran said his documentary followed closely the
findings of a new report by the Boston-based
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which had concluded
that there was evidence of the disposal of human
remains at two mass grave sites near Mazar-i-Sharif.
"Physicians for Human Rights tell me that the
interviews we conducted for the documentary were the
missing link they needed," Mr Doran said.
In the documentary, the witnesses says they believe
the bodies at the site found near the village of
Shebarghan included the Taleban prisoners who were
transported to the site in the truck containers.
On its website, PHR calls on Hamid Karzai,
Afghanistan’s new leader, and the international
community to protect the grave sites. It says it
recognises that the government of Afghanistan was not
in a position to secure the sites but that the US,
Britain and other countries had the capacity - and the
responsibility - to ensure that they were protected.
"The examination of bodies and dignified burial of
remains will contribute to the truth and
accountability process, which is essential for future
peace and stability in Afghanistan," PHR said.
Andy McEntee, former chairman of Amnesty
International, who saw the film footage in Berlin and
read the transcript, told DPA news agency that he
believed there there was prima facie evidence of
serious war crimes having been committed by US
soldiers in Afghanistan. Mr McEntee said he believed
the war crimes had been committed not only under
international law but also under US law.
Amnesty International and other human rights
organisations called last year for a public inquiry
into the events at Mazar-i-Sharif after the surrender
of Taleban forces there in late November. Hundreds of
Taleban fighters were killed in what Northern Alliance
forces said was a revolt.
Pictures of aid workers making their way through the
corpses of Taleban prisoners caused international
outrage at the time.
The foreign Taleban fighters, mostly Pakistanis,
Chechens and Arabs, were being held at the Qaila Jangi
fortress outside Mazar-i-Sharif after negotiating a
surrender with Gen Dostum, who had said they would be
allowed to cross the border into Pakistan. Afghans
with the Taleban forces had already been allowed to
return to their home villages.
According to US, British and Northern Alliance
officials, a skirmish within the prison flared into a
battle. Some media reports, however, have questioned
this version of events.
Amnesty says responsibility for an inquiry lies with
the United States and Britain as US and British
special forces helped alliance troops put down the
revolt.
Andre Brie, a member of the European Parliament for
the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), said he would
back any call for an international commission looking
into the allegations. He said he had supported Mr
Doran financially in what he described as the
producer’s "dangerous film activity".
Excerpts of Mr Doran’s documentary are to be screened
on television in Britain next week.
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