ZGram - 6/13/2002 - "Documentary Of US 'War Crimes'?"
irimland@zundelsite.org
irimland@zundelsite.org
Thu, 13 Jun 2002 19:25:04 -0700
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ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny
June 13, 2002
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:
[START]
Documentary Of US 'War Crimes' In Afghanistan Stuns Europe
By Clive Freeman
6-13-2
BERLIN - American soldiers have been involved in the torture and
murder of captured Taliban prisoners, and may have aided in the
"disappearance" of up to 3,000 men in the region of Mazar-i-Sharif,
according to Jamie Doran, an Irish documentary film-maker.
Doran's latest film, Massacre At Mazar, was shown on Wednesday in in
the Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin, and there
were immediate calls for an international commission to be set up to
investigate charges made in the documentary.
Andrew McEntee, a leading international human rights lawyer, who has
viewed the film footage and read full transcripts, believes there is
prima facie evidence of serious war crimes having been committed by
American soldiers in Afghanistan.
'The Americans did whatever they wanted'McEntee, who was in Berlin
for Wednesday's special screening, said war crimes had been committed
not just under international law but, also, "under the laws of the
United States itself".
Much of the footage shown in Doran's 20-minute documentary was taken
secretly, and although witnesses were said to be living in fear of
reprisal from within Afghanistan itself they had all agreed to appear
at any future international war crimes tribunal to give evidence, it
was claimed.
One witness in the film claimed he had seen an American soldier break
an Afghan prisoner's neck and pour acid on others. "The Americans did
whatever they wanted. We had no power to stop them," he alleged.
Sometimes prisoners who were beaten up and taken outside had
"disappeared", he said.
In other sequences witnesses, among them two men, claimed they had
been forced to drive into the desert with hundreds of Taliban
prisoners.
The living were then summarily shot while 30 to 40 American soldiers
purportedly stood by, it was alleged. The prisoners had been taken
there on the orders of the local American commander, according to the
documentary.
In the film, an Afghan witness admitted to killing prisoners himself,
and another officer, allegedly a senior officer in the army of deputy
defence minister Dostum's forces, was said to have gone into hiding
following threats to his life.
The far-left Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) arranged for the
special showing of Massacre At Mazar in the Reichstag. Party chairman
Roland Claus was cautious regarding its content but did spoke of its
attempt at "authenticity."
Andre Brie, a PDS member of the European Parliament, concerned by
reports of ill treatment of Taliban prisoners, said he would be in
favour of an international commission looking into "disturbing"
questions raised by the film.
At a press conference Brie said he had known of Doran's dangerous
film activity in Afghanistan, and had helped to support him
financially.
The PDS party faction had wanted to obtain authentic footage of the
war in Afghanistan, he said.
The film was due to be screened at the European Parliament in
Strasbourg later on Wednesday evening. -
Sapa-DPA
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1023894901416B265&set_id=1
=====
(Source: http://www.rense.com/general26/warcrimes.htm )
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--></style><title>ZGram - 6/13/2002 - "Documentary Of US 'War
Crimes'?"</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000"><b>ZGram -
Where Truth is Destiny<br>
<br>
June 13, 2002<br>
<br>
Good Morning from the Zundelsite:<br>
<br>
[START]<br>
Documentary Of US 'War Crimes' In Afghanistan Stuns
Europe</b></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+4"
color="#000000"><b><br>
</b></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">By
Clive Freeman<br>
6-13-2<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000"><b>BERLIN</b> - American soldiers have been involved
in the torture and murder of captured Taliban prisoners, and may have
aided in the "disappearance" of up to 3,000 men in the
region of Mazar-i-Sharif, according to Jamie Doran, an Irish
documentary film-maker.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">Doran's
latest film, Massacre At Mazar, was shown on Wednesday in in the
Reichstag, the German parliament building in Berlin, and there were
immediate calls for an international commission to be set up to
investigate charges made in the documentary.</font><font
face="Times New Roman" size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">Andrew
McEntee, a leading international human rights lawyer, who has viewed
the film footage and read full transcripts, believes there is prima
facie evidence of serious war crimes having been committed by American
soldiers in Afghanistan.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">'The
Americans did whatever they wanted'McEntee, who was in Berlin for
Wednesday's special screening, said war crimes had been committed not
just under international law but, also, "under the laws of the
United States itself".</font><font face="Times New Roman"
size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">Much of
the footage shown in Doran's 20-minute documentary was taken secretly,
and although witnesses were said to be living in fear of reprisal from
within Afghanistan itself they had all agreed to appear at any future
international war crimes tribunal to give evidence, it was
claimed.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">One
witness in the film claimed he had seen an American soldier break an
Afghan prisoner's neck and pour acid on others. "The Americans
did whatever they wanted. We had no power to stop them," he
alleged.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000">Sometimes prisoners who were beaten up and taken
outside had "disappeared", he said.</font><font
face="Times New Roman" size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">In other
sequences witnesses, among them two men, claimed they had been forced
to drive into the desert with hundreds of Taliban
prisoners.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">The
living were then summarily shot while 30 to 40 American soldiers
purportedly stood by, it was alleged. The prisoners had been taken
there on the orders of the local American commander, according to the
documentary.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">In the
film, an Afghan witness admitted to killing prisoners himself, and
another officer, allegedly a senior officer in the army of deputy
defence minister Dostum's forces, was said to have gone into hiding
following threats to his life.</font><font face="Times New Roman"
size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">The
far-left Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) arranged for the special
showing of Massacre At Mazar in the Reichstag. Party chairman Roland
Claus was cautious regarding its content but did spoke of its attempt
at "authenticity."</font><font face="Times New Roman"
size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">Andre
Brie, a PDS member of the European Parliament, concerned by reports of
ill treatment of Taliban prisoners, said he would be in favour of an
international commission looking into "disturbing" questions
raised by the film.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">At a
press conference Brie said he had known of Doran's dangerous film
activity in Afghanistan, and had helped to support him
financially.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">The PDS
party faction had wanted to obtain authentic footage of the war in
Afghanistan, he said.</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1" color="#000000">The film
was due to be screened at the European Parliament in Strasbourg later
on Wednesday evening. -<br>
<br>
Sapa-DPA</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-4"
color="#000000"><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="+1"
color="#000000"
>http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1023894901416<span
></span>B265&set_id=1</font><font face="Times New Roman"
size="-4" color="#000000"><br>
<br>
=====<br>
<br>
(Source: http://www.rense.com/general26/warcrimes.htm
)</font></div>
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