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Soldiers used his prosthetic leg to drink alcohol. His family says money won't bring closure
The Afghan family of a man whose prosthetic leg was used as a drinking vessel by elite Australian soldiers has responded to the idea of compensation from the Australian government.
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By Michelle Jasmin Dimasi, Finn McHugh
Source: SBS News
Image: The Afghan family of a man whose prosthetic leg was used to drink alcohol by elite Australian soldiers have described compensation from the Commonwealth as 'blood money'.
KEY POINTS:
- The family of an Afghan man whose leg was used to drink alcohol by Australian troops has not received compensation.
- The Brereton report found credible evidence of 39 potential murders by Australian forces.
- It recommended compensation where allegations are credible, even if no charges are brought.
The family of two Afghan men whose deaths were central to the defamation trial of former Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith have not received compensation, three years after Australia's most significant war crimes inquiry described payments as "simply the morally right thing to do".
They say have been left destitute by the killings but are wary of accepting what they call "blood money" from the Australian government.
SBS News revealed on Tuesday that the family of the two suspected insurgents, who were a father and son, are prepared to travel to Australia to testify in any criminal trial launched over the killings.
Ahmadullah's leg was used as a drinking vessel by Australian special forces. This photo was first published by the Nine newspapers. Credit: Nine Newspapers
The Brereton report - which found "credible evidence" of 39 potential murders committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan - made compensation a key recommendation, and urged the federal government not to wait for criminal convictions.
Because the publicly available version of the report - released three years ago this week - is heavily redacted, it is not known whether the full document makes reference to the killings of the father and son, or to Roberts-Smith.
A prosthetic leg needed by the son - named Ahmadullah - was taken from him after he was killed and used as a drinking vessel by Australia’s most elite soldiers after the 2009 raid on a compound dubbed Whiskey 108 in Uruzgan Province.
Despite widespread condemnation of Australian soldiers drinking from the limb, and the Federal Court defamation ruling in June, Ahmadullah's family is yet to receive a dollar from the Australian government.
Ahmadullah's younger brother, Esmatullah, pushed back at suggestions money alone would bring them closure.
Imagine that if it happened with any Australian, how would they feel? We didn’t need anything from Australians. We just want to know why this cruelty happened.
Family says deaths 'destroyed everything'
Both sides in the defamation trial accepted Ahmadullah and his father, Mohammed Essa, were insurgents.
The Federal Court found that on the balance of probabilities, both men were prisoners when they were killed, and Roberts-Smith machine-gunned Ahmadullah after ordering another soldier to shoot Mohammed Essa.
Under criminal law, the execution of detained prisoners is murder.
Roberts-Smith has never denied killing Ahmadullah, but repeatedly argued he was shot legally during combat. He denied shooting or ordering Mohammed Essa's death.
Rabia says her family has been left destitute by the killings of her husband and son.
Mohammed Essa's wife, Rabia described her husband as a "poor man" who provided for the family by repairing shoes. She said his death threw the family into turmoil.
"They destroyed our lives, we lost everything we had. We spent our whole life eating other people's food, wearing people's clothes ... It is not so easy to take care of orphan children," she said.
Their dire circumstances were exacerbated when their house was flattened by a bomb during the raid, Rabia said.
'We are not selling blood'
Rabia now makes do by making handicrafts. But injuries are beginning to hamper her.
Her three sons work the land to support their family, the results of the raid forcing them to abandon their education.
Esmatullah, who was about 10 years old when the raid occurred, remembered "a lot" of love from his father, who he was allowed to tail wherever he went.
"We don’t have our father as the guardian anymore ... If he was alive, maybe now I would be an engineer instead of working [on the] land as a farmer. I would be an educated and literate person," he said.
In photos first published by the Nine newspapers, Roberts-Smith smiles as another soldier drinks from Ahmadullah's prosthetic leg. Credit: Nine Newspapers
"Every night I'm remembering my father. Look at these orphans! And the widows. Just imagine if your husband died and you have orphans to support in poverty?"
Esmatullah said his older brother, Ahmadullah, pushed ahead with his education despite the vehicle accident which left him needing a prosthetic leg, so he could "support his family and live a good life".
"I really miss him. My whole family misses him," Esmatullah adds.
Ahmadullah's wife, Malika, was pregnant with the couple's third child when he was shot dead. Nearly 15 years on, her anger is still visceral when she describes her husband's killers.
"We don’t want any help. We are not selling the blood of our martyrs. We want court," she said.
"If someone were offer the kingdom of a king, I won’t be happy [or] relaxed and calm."
Malika said the death of her husband had deprived her three children of the chance to go to school.
"Whenever my son hears the sound of a motorcycle, he says to me: 'I wish I had a father, where is my father?'"
Malika speaking during her interview. SBS News has verified her identity.
Forty-six Australian service people were killed over a decade in the country. The US-based Costs of War Project estimated the war killed more than 176,000 people between the US-led 2001 invasion and the Taliban's return to power in 2021.
Asked by SBS News why the family had not received compensation, a spokesperson for the Defence Department said: "In June 2023, the government agreed to a pathway forward to establish a compensation scheme within Defence, under regulation. Work is ongoing to finalise the detail of the scheme and bring forward a proposal to government.
"The Afghanistan Inquiry report made 15 recommendations to pay compensation to alleged victims and their families where there is credible evidence involving allegations of property damage, assault and unlawful killing, without awaiting the establishment of criminal liability."
When asked by SBS News whether the killings of Ahmadullah and Mohammad Essa were outlined in the Brereton report, they did not respond specifically to the question.
What does the Brereton report say about compensation?
Three years ago, the Brereton report recommended compensation be paid whenever there was "credible evidence" an Afghan was murdered by Australian forces - detailing at least 39 potential cases. Due to redactions, it is not known whether the deaths of Ahmadullah and Mohammed Essa are included in the document.
But the Brereton report specifically called for compensation for the families of dead non-combatants and combatants illegally killed while detained.
"If Afghans have been unlawfully killed by Australian soldiers ostensibly acting in the name and on behalf of Australia, then Australia should compensate their families," it said.
"Doing so will contribute to the maintenance of goodwill between the nations, and do something to restore Australia’s standing, both with the villagers concerned, and at the national level.
"But quite aside from that, it is simply the morally right thing to do."
The report also warned the government not to wait for an alleged perpetrator to be convicted, noting that could take years and may ultimately prove too difficult.
More than a decade after many alleged war crimes occurred, and three years on from the release of the Brereton Report, one former Australian soldier has been charged with a criminal offence.
"While acting on the basis of the Inquiry’s findings of ‘credible information’ may result in some receiving compensation who should not, on balance that risk is justified by the overall benefits of taking this step to right the ledger," the report said.
The report did not provide specifics on how compensation would be paid, and the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has complicated the process politically.
The Brereton report acknowledged Australia had "long historical connections" to Afghanistan.
"Australia’s stated purpose in being in Afghanistan, and Uruzgan Province in particular, included improving the conditions of the Afghan people," it said.
Australia joined the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, within months of the September 11 attacks. The Bush administration toppled the Taliban, a hardline Islamist group that was in control of the country, after accusing it of harbouring the al-Qaeda network that launched the attack.
