Charges dropped against Australian soldiers over Afghan civilian killings
►http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/may2011/afgh-m26.shtml
An Australian military court has dropped manslaughter charges against two soldiers involved in the killing of five Afghan children during a raid in the southern province of Uruzgan in early 2009. The decision, issued last Friday, has far-reaching implications, with Australian forces effectively given a green light to kill civilians.
Judge Advocate Brigadier Ian Westwood agreed with the defence counsel that the charges ought to be thrown out because they “did not disclose service offences.” Westwood said there was no specific wording in the Defence Force Discipline Act indicating that the soldiers had a duty of care for non-combatants. As a result, he concluded, they could not be prosecuted for manslaughter.
Évidemment, si ça n’est pas marqué dans le mode d’emploi. #australie #Afghanistan