CENTCOM Report, November 28: Afghan Cremation Investigation Ends
28 November 2005
U.S. soldiers found not to have violated Law of War, but did show poor judgment
Multiple U.S. military investigations into actions by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in connection with the cremation of enemy remains has found they exhibited poor judgment and were ignorant of Afghan culture, but they did not violate the Law of War. The soldiers, from Company B, 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry (Airborne), have been disciplined.
The findings were included in a report released November 27 by the headquarters of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
A total of five investigations – one formal and four informal – have been completed following a military firefight on September 30 between coalition forces and Taliban combatants in the northern province of Kandahar. (See related article.)
Two Taliban fighters, an Afghan National Army soldier and an American soldier died during the exchange.
Because the U.S. soldiers planned to maintain their strategic position in Gumbad for another four days, temperatures were soaring, the rocky hilltop terrain prevented burial and no one had come to claim the bodies, an officer decided unilaterally to cremate the remains October 1 for hygienic reasons.
The investigators found that, at the same time, the commander of the battalion had gone to meet with nearby village leaders to consult and coordinate retrieval of the dead. He was apparently unaware that an officer under his command had ordered the cremation of the enemy remains.
When the battalion commander reported back to his unit about the plans by village leaders to retrieve the bodies, he learned of the cremation order. He countermanded that order immediately, and the in-progress incineration was halted.
The villagers who showed up subsequently to retrieve the remains found they could not move them that day. They indicated they would return for the remains October 2.
The Combined Joint Task Force-76 found that the two soldiers involved showed poor judgment during the incident. General officer memorandums of reprimand were issued to those soldiers.
The criminal investigation found that the soldiers who were involved lacked “a thorough knowledge of the local Afghan traditions with respect to burial” but that there was no intent to desecrate the dead, merely a desire to deal hygienically with the rapidly decomposing remains, according to the report’s executive summary.
The Law of War calls for the burial or cremation of remains, but cremation is not allowed by Islam -- something the soldiers did not know at the time.
MESSAGE CONTENT VIOLATED IN PSYCHOLOGICALOPERATION
Two more U.S. soldiers were cited for poor judgment and issued identical reprimands for a separate but related incident. These soldiers used information about the cremation incident as part of a psychological operation to try to taunt Taliban fighters to re-engage on October 1.
The criminal investigation said broadcasting information about the cremation over loudspeakers violated “standing policies for the content of loudspeaker messages.” The report states that “there was no evidence to substantiate that the remains were burned for the purpose of providing content for the loudspeaker message.” But it goes on to fault the operator of the loudspeaker for willfully violating specific standards regarding message content, as well as standards for reporting his activities during the conduct of a military mission.
As a result of the report’s finding, the two soldiers and the unit commander involved in this second incident have been reassigned to other duties.
The coalition command has met several times with Afghan leaders to determine how to bring about better understanding of and respect for local customs. As a result, all command leaders have been directed to take additional cultural awareness training with input from and personal participation by Afghan leaders. The training will focus particularly on the intersection of Afghan culture and the Law of War.
In addition, an Afghan cultural awareness pocket card is being produced for soldiers to carry with them to prevent similar problems.
The command also has conducted specialized training designed to clarify psychological operations policies and procedures.
The executive summary of the report is available on CENTCOM’s Web site.
For more information about U.S. policy, see Rebuilding Afghanistan.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
