Possible prosecutions of UK Special Forces over alleged unlawful killings in Afghanistan would be deeply serious. But if credible evidence supports charges, accountability is necessary for victims, soldiers and the rule of law.
The Ministry of Defence has apologised after 97 million files were discovered more than three years into the independent inquiry examining allegations of unlawful killings by UK Special Forces in Afghanistan, with thousands of documents potentially relevant to its investigation.
A former civil servant who worked inside SAS headquarters has described a culture in which some soldiers behaved as though normal rules did not apply, while saying she was casually told of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan has called an open hearing after discovering a significant and unexpected increase in relevant Ministry of Defence documentation that has not been disclosed.
An inquiry examining allegations that British Special Forces unlawfully killed civilians in Afghanistan has cost the taxpayer £58 million, according to Ministry of Defence figures, as the process stretches towards its fourth year without published findings.
AOAV analysis finds a stark ideological divide in British media coverage of the Afghanistan Inquiry, with right-wing outlets far more likely to portray scrutiny of alleged SAS killings as a witch hunt, lawfare or a threat to national security.
Newly published evidence presented to the Afghanistan Inquiry contains allegations from multiple witnesses of prisoner abuse, intimidation and a culture of exceptionalism within UK Special Forces, although the Inquiry has yet to reach any findings.
The decision to allow journalists to identify the SAS and SBS in reporting on the Afghanistan Inquiry is a welcome development, but it should be viewed less as a breakthrough and more as the removal of a restriction that probably shouldn't have been there in the first place.
N1788 told the Afghanistan Inquiry that Afghan partner forces became increasingly reluctant to work with a British special forces unit in 2011 amid concerns over deadly night raids and mounting political pressure from President Hamid Karzai.
A former UK Special Forces chief told the Afghanistan Inquiry he directly challenged a commander after becoming aware of allegations that troops under his command may have been deliberately killing people during operations in Afghanistan.
A former Special Forces headquarters chief told the Afghanistan Inquiry that increasing Afghan fatalities and concerns over raid tactics led commanders to order a review in 2011.
Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest proves nothing about British troops, but it does show that even elite and decorated special-forces soldiers can be subjected to ordinary legal scrutiny, making it harder for the UK inquiry into alleged SAS killings to be dismissed as futile, unfair or impossible.