The Australian Greens Leader, Senator Bob Brown, today joined the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) in calling for a full and independent inquiry into the Australian Defence Force’s (ADF) detention practices in Iraq and Afghanistan.

‘The UK and US have had open inquiries, but Australia has yet to publicly account for how it detains and treats captives in Iraq and Afghanistan,’ said PIAC chief executive officer, Edward Santow.

‘There are outstanding questions about Australia’s current operations in Afghanistan.

‘What conditions are placed on captives who are handed over by Australian forces to the US and Afghanistan?

‘Does Australia still use the legal fiction of having one US soldier embedded with Australian troops to try to avoid its legal responsibilities to captives?

‘We need to ensure that, in current and future conflicts, Australia fully complies with its international legal obligations and the Geneva Conventions’, Mr Santow said.

The call for an independent inquiry follows revelations this week that the ADF knew of abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and an Australian military lawyer obstructed International Committee of the Red Cross inspectors access to detainees at Abu Ghraib.

The revelations are based on previously secret documents obtained by PIAC under freedom of information laws and published online at http://military.piac.asn.au.

‘The documents show a disturbing response by Australian officials regarding detainee mistreatment,’ said Mr Santow.

Contacts: Dominic O’Grady, PIAC Media Officer.  Ph: 02 8898 6532 or 0400 110 169

Gemma Namey, PIAC Solicitor. M: 0411 312 549

Photo: Flickr