Report of alleged war crimes by Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan a distressing reminder of the need for accountability and transparency

The Green Party strongly condemns the revelation of alleged war crimes by the Australian Defence Force in Afghanistan, with an alleged unlawful killing of 39 people by 25 Special Forces personnel.

“My thoughts go to the Afghani community and the families affected by these alleged unlawful killings”, Green Party spokesperson on Defence Golriz Ghahraman said today.

“These revelations compound my relief that last term we worked with Government to ensure New Zealand troops withdrew from what began as America’s illegal war in Afghanistan.

“What has been alleged in Major General Paul Brereton’s report exposes the true scale of what happens in war zones when operations become increasingly shrouded in secrecy, and toxic cultures are allowed to form unchecked.

“We must be vigilant here in Aotearoa against that culture of impunity in our defence forces. We have an absolute legal and moral duty to investigate, prosecute, and punish military crimes right up the chain of military and political command.

“We know from the recent Burnham report that there were serious concerns with process and communication, which undermined accountability and created an environment for wrong doing that has gone unpunished.

“This resulted in the death of a young girl and a prisoner war being handed over, with a high likelihood that they were tortured.

“Off the back of the Burnham report an expert panel was set up to review the Defence Force’s structures.

“I will be engaging with the new Defence Minister to ensure that this expert panel is appropriately ensuring an improvement to our processes here in New Zealand.

“I will also be enquiring as to whether the top officials operating at the time of bad communication and behaviour have been brought forward for questioning.”

Action

Protect Nature

Volunteer

The Greens are proud to be driven by passionate people like you. Today we need your help to take action on the biggest issues facing Aotearoa. Volu...

Action

Save Auckland's Climate Budget

Sign the petition to stop Mayor Wayne Brown's proposal for dangerous cuts to climate and environmental programmes that protect us from extreme weat...

Action

No New Mines 2023

Action

Expand Voting

Now more than ever, young people in Aotearoa are impacted by Government decisions, and they deserve to have a say. We are calling on all Members of...

Action

End Intensive Winter Grazing

Sign the petition to Labour Ministers, to move faster in bringing regulations into force and end intensive winter grazing.

Action

Trains for Climate

Add your name to our open letter urging the Minister for Finance Grant Robertson to save our passenger trains between Wellington, the Wairarapa and...

Action

Healthy Oceans 2022

Join our Healthy Oceans Crew to help us keep the health and protection of our oceans high on the Labour Government’s political agenda.

Action

It's time: A Ministry for Rainbow Communities

Join our call asking the Prime Minister to establish a Ministry for Rainbow Communities that can champion Rainbow issues.

Action

No new mines on conservation land

Sign the open letter asking Labour Ministers to stick to their promise of banning new mining projects on conservation land.

Action

Allow community ownership of our buses

Public transport is an essential service and helps to tackle the climate crisis by reducing our carbon emissions. But there are barriers to communi...

Action

Local Events

We have activists across Aotearoa / New Zealand who are working hard to build a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. This page lists upcomin...

Latest Defence Announcements

Story

Former Defence Force Chiefs must front up over torture allegations: Green Party

The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failu...

Defence and Peacekeeping Policy

The Green Party supports strategic defence policy that furthers non-violent objectives and supports peace. We will ensure that peacekeeping, disast...

Story

Green Party warmly welcomes end of Iraq deployment in June 2020

The Green Party warmly welcome the decision to withdraw all troops from Iraq by June 2020, Green Party Defence Spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said. ...

Green Party: Time for New Zealand to promote peace not war

Instead of hosting US-style weapons expos like that being held in Palmerston North, New Zealand could be a world leader in peace mediation, humanit...

Govt should declare climate change a threat to peace and security

The Green Party is calling on the New Zealand Government to use its presidency of the UN Security Council to introduce a determination, in the form...

Key used GCSB for political ends prior to 2014 election

New documents released to the Green Party show that Prime Minister John Key used New Zealand's intelligence services for the National Party's polit...