SAS soldiers to sue Brereton over Australian war crimes inquiry

Special forces soldiers are preparing a legal class action over their treatment by Major General Paul Brereton during his inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

Special forces soldiers are preparing a legal class action over their treatment by Major General Paul Brereton during his inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

Thirteen soldiers from the Special Air Service given notices to show cause why they should not be dismissed after the Brereton report came out have now been told there is not “sufficient information” for their cases to be referred to investigators.

It is understood that in addition to the group’s challenge of the inquiry’s legitimacy in the high court they are planning individual cases over the way Major General Brereton and his inquiry teams interrogated soldiers.

“We were told we did not need legal representation and were then not allowed to leave the room for hours at a time,” one special forces operative told The Daily Telegraph.

It is understood soldiers broke down in tears as they were repeatedly harangued to produce evidence pointing to war crimes.

“Then statements were mailed to soldiers living on the SAS base at Swanbourne naming the person making allegations against them,” he said. “These were people living next door to each other, it’s almost as though they wanted to set fire to the place.”

Thirteen soldiers were issued with termination notices amid the fallout from the Afghan war crimes report. Picture: Department of Defence

In November the Brereton report recommended 19 individuals be investigated by the Office of Special Investigations on the basis of “credible information” of war crimes. However, the information gathered by the inquiry does not meet the standards of evidence to be admissible in a court of law.

Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell issued an apology to the Australian public when the report was issued. He did not respond to requests for a similar public apology to the 13 soldiers told last week that he is “not satisfied that there is sufficient information available to me to refer the matter” to investigators.

When the report came out Prime Minister Scott Morrison also apologised and promised that “justice is provided and compensation is paid to the victims.”

Yesterday he said it was “very relevant” the soldiers had their notices quietly withdrawn. “It just goes to show that there are people making assumptions about these issues and shouldn’t be making those assumptions,” he said.

Former special forces major Heston Russell said a public apology was needed. “These men have had their lives ruined by these allegations and have been persecuted for nearly a year without a day in court.

“The Australian public and parts of the media were too quick to throw their hands up in the air and believe our soldiers were guilty of war crimes. Now the Taliban is back, they can see the barbarity our soldiers were dealing with.”

He said most of the 13 soldiers had sought to be medically discharged after receiving their termination notices but that had no bearing on the notices now being withdrawn because of “insufficient information” about alleged war crimes.

“The Australian public needs to be updated on just how many allegations still stand and how many special forces personnel, if any, are awaiting trial,” he said.