De doodsploegen die van de CIA met „straffeloosheid“ in Afghanistan doden
Door Joe Kay | Een onderzoeker van de Verenigde Naties gaf een inleidend rapport vrij vorige week aanhalend wijdverspreide burgerlijke sterfgevallen in Afghanistan, vaak bij de handen van unaccountable eenheden die door de CIA of andere buitenlandse intelligentieagentschappen worden geleid.
De onderzoeker is Philip Alston, een Universitaire professor die van New York als Speciale Rapporteur van de Raad van de Rechten van de mens van de Verenigde Naties over buitengerechtelijke, summiere of willekeurige uitvoering dient. Zijn rapport verstrekt een gedeeltelijke glimp in de onwettige acties van intelligentieagentschappen, die krachten, en Afghaanse politie bezetten, aangezien zij tot doel hebben om verzet tegen het ons-Geleide beroep en de ons-Gesteunde overheid te onderdrukken.
Een meer gedetailleerd definitief rapport zal later op het jaar worden vrijgegeven.
Alston concentreerde zich op burgerlijke moord door de V.S. en andere internationale militaire krachten, aanhalend 200 gemelde sterfgevallen in de eerste vier maanden van 2008. Dit cijfer, echter, werd gebaseerd op tabelleren door de Verenigde Naties en andere internationale organisaties, en is ongetwijfeld een ernstige onderschatting.
Naast burgers gedood in lucht inval-die lukraak vaak in burgerlijke woning-Alston wordt gericht rapporteerde over „een aantal invallen waarvoor geen staat of militair bevel bereid lijken om verantwoordelijkheid te erkennen.“
In een persconferentie over Donderdag die, uitgewerkte Alston, „ik heb met een groot aantal mensen met betrekking tot de verrichting van buitenlandse intelligentieeenheden gesproken zegt. Ik wil niet hen noemen maar zij zijn het meest hogere niveau van de relevante plaatsen. Deze krachten werken met wat straffeloosheid schijnt te zijn.“ De plaats van de incidenten die in het rapport worden aangehaald wijst erop dat de intelligentieagentschappen in kwestie de Krachten van de Verrichtingen van de CIA of van de V.S. Speciale omvatten.
Het rapport haalde een paar incidenten als voorbeelden van buitengerechtelijke moord aan. In Januari 2008, werden twee broers in provincie Kandahar in een inval gedood die door „internationaal personeel wordt geleid.“ Alston vond dat de slachtoffers „wijd, zelfs door de goed ingelichte ambtenaren van de Overheid, worden erkend om geen verbinding aan Taliban gehad te hebben, en de omstandigheden van hun sterfgevallen zijn verdacht. Nochtans, niet alleen kon I niet om het even welke internationale militaire bevelhebber ertoe brengen om hun versie te verstrekken van wat plaatsvond, maar ik kon om het even welke internationale militaire bevelhebber ertoe brengen niet om zelfs toe te geven dat hun militairen.“ geïmpliceerde waren
Andere incidenten impliceerden invallen door Afghanen die door de naamloze „internationale intelligentiediensten“ uit basissen in zowel provincies Kandahar worden geleid als Nangarhar.
“It is absolutely unacceptable for heavily-armed internationals accompanied by heavily-armed Afghan forces to be wandering around conducting dangerous raids that too often result in killings without anyone taking responsibility for them,” the report stated.
The British Independent newspaper provided some additional information. It noted, “A Western official close to the investigation said the secret units are still known as Campaign Forces, from the time when American Special Forces and CIA spies recruited Afghan troops to help overthrow the Taliban during the US-led invasion in 2001. ‘The brightest, smartest guys in these militias were kept on,’ the official said. ‘They were trained and rearmed and they are still being used.’”
The Independent went on to cite one incident involving British forces. “In Helmand, where most of Britain’s 7,800 troops are based, Special Forces were accused of slitting a man’s throat in a botched night raid last year. Security sources now claim the operation was mounted by a secret spy unit.”
Alston also reported on the actions of Afghan police. “They function not as enforcers of law and order, but as promoters of the interests of a specific tribe or commander,” he reported. He cited one incident in which Afghan police massacred a group from a rival tribe. There was no investigation by the government or the occupying forces. In another incident, police killed nine and wounded 42 unarmed protestors in Sheberghan in May 2007.
In general, he found little to no interest among US or Afghan officials in monitoring or following up on civilian deaths. “The level of complacency in response to these killings is staggeringly high,” he said.
At the press conference, he noted, “When I asked for the number of reported civilian casualties over the past year or so, I was told that those figures are either not available in Afghanistan—which I was told by several senior military people—or that they are secret and cannot be provided to me. When I asked for the results of certain cases, to ascertain whether those involved have been punished, I was told that no such information is available here in Afghanistan and that perhaps I should read the newspapers of the countries concerned.”
The fact that the CIA is involved in covert operations in Afghanistan is neither new nor surprising. Already by the 1970s, the CIA had developed ties to sections of the Afghan population, and in particular Islamic fundamentalist elements, in an effort to undermine the Soviet-backed government. Later, the CIA was heavily involved in developing ties to anti-Taliban warlords prior to the US invasion and occupation in 2001.
Following the invasion, Afghanistan—and in particular the Bagram Air Force Base near Kabul—became a transit point for prisoners captured by the United States and destined for Guantánamo Bay, secret CIA prisons, or US-allied countries that practice torture. US intelligence agencies were reportedly also involved in the interrogation of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
In 2005, US media reported on the operations of US-backed deaths squads in Iraq, deployed to kill suspected opponents of the US occupation. Yasser Salihee, a special correspondent for news agency Knight Ridder who was investigating the death squads, was killed with a bullet to the head in June of that year. Separate reports related how the US military had modeled Iraqi units on the death squads deployed in Central America during the 1980s to eliminate left-wing opposition to US policies.
While most of the CIA’s actions remain shrouded in secrecy, one CIA contractor was prosecuted for torturing an Afghan prisoner to death in 2003. The contractor, David Passaro, interrogated and beat the prisoner, Abdul Wali, for two days, injuring him so severely that he died two days later.
In a separate development, the New York Times reported on Saturday that the Pentagon is moving forward with the construction of a 40-acre prison complex at the Bagram military base. The current prison, as well as separate prisons run by the Afghans and by the US, are reportedly insufficient to hold the massive number of individuals swept up by the occupying forces.
The facility may also be used for prisoners currently detained in Guantánamo Bay. It will be designed to hold as many as 1,100 people.
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CIA death squads killing with “impunity” in Afghanistan « Dr Nasir Khan
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