23:42
In the lead-up to the report’s release, the president of the Law Council of Australia, Pauline Wright, backed calls for the Australian government to set up a redress scheme for victims or their families, but emphasised the need for the claims to first be tested in court.
Wright told the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday that if the investigations resulted in convictions it was “incumbent upon our government to have some kind of compensation scheme”.
She called on the government to set up an investigation process that was “thorough and fair, not only for the victims of the alleged war crimes but also for the people accused”.
“Justice delayed is justice denied and if people are being accused of war crimes, which is a very serious thing to be hanging over one’s head, the obligation of a government to ensure that that process is dealt with in a timely way has to be foremost,” Wright said.
Victims’ families also wanted their complaints to be investigated promptly and thoroughly, “otherwise that sense of injustice hangs over those people”.
23:38
Morrison expresses ‘deepest sorrow’ to president of Afghanistan
Ahead of the report’s release today, prime minister Scott Morrison called his counterpart in Afghanistan, President Ashraf Ghani, to express his “deepest sorrow”.
Ghani’s spokesperson said, via Twitter, that Morrison had “expressed his deepest sorrow over the misconduct by some Australian troops in Afghanistan and assured the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan of the investigations and to ensuring justice”.
His office also said that foreign minister Marise Payne had written to the Afghani foreign minister to “extended apologies for the misconduct identified by the inquiry, by some Australian military personnel in Afghanistan”.
The letter reads: “The Australian Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds and the Chief of the Defence Force General Angus Campbell AO DSC, are now considering the inquiry’s extensive findings and recommendations and will make public statements subsequently”.
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(@ARG_AFG)President Ashraf Ghani and Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia spoke by phone today. pic.twitter.com/MNWe6Jchf5
Morrison’s office confirmed the prime minister had called Ghani to foreshadow the report’s release.
Morrison’s office readout says: “He said the report contained some disturbing allegations and the Australian government was taking those allegations very seriously.”
Morrison’s office said Ghani indicated he was counting on Australia’s justice system to follow up on these matters.
Updated
22:50
Updated