Human rights campaigners have denounced the US military’s decision not to file criminal charges against officers involved in a disastrous bombing raid on a hospital in Afghanistan, saying it was an insult to the victims.
US military officials said Thursday that more than a dozen military personnel were punished over the strike last October on the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) hospital in Kunduz, which left 42 people dead, triggering a storm of global criticism.
The punishments are largely administrative, such as letters of reprimand and ending chances for further promotion, officials said.
“For good reason the victims’ family members will see this as both an injustice and an insult: the US military investigated itself and decided no crimes had been committed,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Friday.
“The failure to criminally investigate senior officials liable for the attack is not only an affront to the lives…