 |
| Reports of War Crimes by both Northern Alliance and Taliban In the space of a day, both the Northern Alliance and the Taliban were reported to have committed actions that constitute war crimes. On November 12, as they advanced deep into Taliban territory on their campaign toward Kabul, Alliance soldiers killed enemy combatants who had surrendered and were begging for their lives. Not only did they murder captives, they also looted and mutilated their corpses. This is a war crime, under Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which states: "Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of the armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely." On November 13, in the northeastern city of Kunduz, a Taliban commander announced that he was defecting and invited the Northern Alliance to enter and take control of the town. As the Alliance troops approached, they were ambushed by Taliban rockets. Many were killed in the sudden, chaotic retreat. While the laws and customs of war do not prohibit ruses, decoys and other deceptive maneuvers (for example, staging an assemblage of ships when a land attack is actually being prepared), the Geneva Conventions (Article 37 of Protocol 1) do expressly prohibit "acts inviting the confidence of an adversary to lead him to believe that he is entitled to… protection under the rules of international law." In falsely defecting and promising allegiance to the Northern Alliance and in treacherously offering the city of Kudzun, the Taliban committed an act of perfidy. Fighting still rages in Kudzun among various factions of Taliban and the Northern Alliance. The splintering of the Taliban, and bitter rivalries among Taliban chiefs, has intensified concern about the possibility of war crimes, and so has the continued Northern Alliance refusal to accept authentic offers of surrender. Selected Excerpts Executions
of P.O.W.'s Cast Doubts on Alliance They searched him and emptied his pockets. Then, one soldier fired two bursts from his rifle into the man's chest. A second soldier beat the lifeless body with his rifle butt. A third repeatedly smashed a rocket- propelled-grenade launcher into the man's head. The killing occurred minutes after Northern Alliance soldiers, advancing toward Kabul, surged deep into Taliban territory. They chose to celebrate with executions. Ten yards away lay the body of a younger man who alliance soldiers said was a Pakistani. He was on his side with his arms extended. In the side of his head was a bullet hole. Two hundred yards away, the soldiers who had minutes earlier shot the older man searched the possessions of a motionless Taliban soldier on the ground. After emptying the man's pockets, a soldier fired a burst from his rifle into the man. The soldiers moved on quickly, showing no emotion. A few minutes later, someone laid an unused mortar round across the man's throat. A fourth body a mile away had a bullet wound in the side of the head. The Taliban soldier, flat on his back, had his hands up, as if he had been surprised or surrendering when shot. Looting was widespread. Alliance soldiers, who have received extensive backing from the United States, plundered Taliban bodies and bunkers, stealing shoes, bags of sugar, flashlights and anything else that they could find. "I got 700,000 afghani!" a soldier who was leaving an abandoned Taliban bunker shouted, flashing a wad of bills worth $20. "I got 700,000!"
BANGI,
Afghanistan, Nov. 13 — The scene was set today for Northern
Alliance troops to make another triumphant entrance into a city
taken from the Taliban. Then everything went wrong. Related
chapters from Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know
Afghan
Warfare: Taliban Trick Throws Rebels Into Retreat Executions
of P.O.W.'s Cast Doubts on Alliance "Afghanistan:
Northern Alliance Must Accept Surrender Offer; Executions of Taliban
Defectors in Kunduz Also Condemned."
|
|
