Enquiry Backs Whistleblower Who Revealed Australian Soldiers Killed Afghan Civilians

Lawyers for former military lawyer turned whistleblower David McBride, who revealed Australian elite forces killed civilians in Afghanistan, said charges against him for releasing classified information should be dropped after a report confirmed his claims.

His legal team said it was "unfathomable" he faces jail for reporting the killings while those who allegedly committed them aren't being accused of war crimes despite the finding from New South Wales Justice Paul Brereton's inquiry, The Canberra Times said.

He found 25 special forces soldiers killed 39 civilians in practices known as "throwdowns" where concealable weapons were placed on bodies of those killed to photograph evidence to justify the killings and recommended no action be taken against those who reported it.

"Perhaps the single most effective indication that there is a commitment to cultural reform is the demonstration that those who have been instrumental in the exposure of misconduct, or are known to have acted with propriety and probity, are regarded as role models," Justice Brereton wrote.

"It is crucial that their careers be seen to prosper. There are others whose conduct is such that they cannot be rewarded by promotion, but who, having made disclosures to the inquiry in protected circumstances when they reasonably believed they would not be used against them, and whose evidence was ultimately of considerable assistance to the inquiry, ought not fairly be the subject of adverse administrative action,” he also added.

McBride is facing five charges of reporting what the finding said amounted to murders while those said to have killed the civilians aren't yet facing any. He was charged with theft of property and unauthorized disclosure of material to journalists who reported the killings.

Last year, Australian police raided the headquarters of the state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation looking for the sources of a story by journalist Dan Oakes in 2017 over the killings, the so-called Afghan Files.

Oakes too faced prosecution but authorities in October dropped the case after intense pressure on the government of Prime Minister Scott Morrison who was accused of trying to stifle media freedom and hunt down journalists and their sources. Oakes' coverage was based on leaks from government whistleblowers, McBride charged with being an informant.

Independent Senator Rex Patrick urged the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to drop charges against McBride, the paper said. "Persecution of whistleblowers is not in the public interest. Mr. McBride is a hero," Patrick said.

A spokesman for Attorney-General Christian Porter said it was not appropriate for him to intervene. "This was not a case that required the Attorney-General's consent to prosecute. This was a decision of the independent Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions," the spokesman said, according to the report.

McBride's lawyer Mark Davis said the government should drop the case given the findings that even Morrison said were difficult to digest, shocking the country and drawing anger and disbelief at alleged atrocities.

None of the alleged crimes were “committed during the heat of battle,” according to the report, and all targets were either "prisoners, farmers or civilians,” said Forbes magazine.

One alleged incident was described by the report as “possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia’s military history,” but details of what happened were nearly completely redacted, the magazine said.

Human Rights Watch Australian Director Elaine Pearson said McBride is the only person deployed to Afghanistan facing criminal charges and called him “a brave whistleblower who drew attention to hideous abuses after his superiors failed to respond to his concerns.”

"His whistleblowing has been vindicated by this report and his continued prosecution is a chilling warning to others who may wish to come forward,” she added.

Davis said that since 2014 McBride alerted defense officials to what happened but that it was buried by a “culture of impunity,” the government going after McBride the same way the United States wanted fellow Australian whistleblower and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange extradited from Britain to face charges of reporting killings in Iraq by US forces.

"He exposed this at great cost to his career and reputation and is now facing a jail cell for doing what he saw as his proper duty,” Davis said of McBride.

Australia's defense chief, Gen. Angus Campbell, who said he accepted the findings of the four-year inquiry, called the episodes “deeply disturbing” and “unreservedly” apologized to the Afghan people, said The New York Times.

A spokesman for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions said it was not appropriate to comment as McBride was still facing charges.