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The Brereton Report states that credible information existed of 23 incidents in which one or more non-combatants were unlawfully killed by or at the direction of Australian Special Forces, which may constitute the war crime of murder. There was also credible information of a further 2 incidents where a non-combatant was mistreated in a way that may constitute the war crime of cruel treatment (pp. 2829). The report found credible information that during these alleged incidents, a total of 39 individuals were killed and a further 2 individuals were treated cruelly. In total, 25 current or former ADF personnel were identified as alleged perpetrators- either as principals or accessories (p. 29).

The Brereton Report states that these acts were not 'incidents of disputable decisions made under pressure in the heat of battle' (p. 29). Rather, they were situations 'in which it was or should have been plain that the person killed was a non-combatant, or hors-de-combat' (p. 29). If an individual is hors-de-combat this means that they are in the power of an adverse party, they have clearly expressed an intention to surrender or they are defenceless because, for example, they are unconscious or incapacitated. Attacking an individual who is hors-de-combat is prohibited under IHL and they must be treated humanely.

The Brereton Report also found that there is credible information that some members of the ADF placed weapons with the body of an 'enemy killed in action'. This was done 'in order to portray that the person killed had been carrying the weapon or other military equipment when engaged and was a legitimate target' (p. 29).

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Rapier108 said:

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BusterAg said:

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I still hate the public arrest thing.

Does Australia have a court marshall system? That is where things like this belong.

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The DEI police chief who arrested Australia’s most decorated soldier for ‘war crimes’ has twice as many medals as Australia’s most decorated soldier.

Think about that for a moment. https://t.co/b3mamE7pSA pic.twitter.com/DCQsw5gwPv

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 7, 2026

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The report detailed shocking revelations from an earlier 2016 inquiry, by Samantha Crompvoets, that SAS soldiers slit the throats of two 14-year-old boys they thought might be Taliban sympathisers. The deaths do not appear to be included in the 39 figure reached by the inquiry.

"They stopped, searched the boys and slit their throats," it said.

"The rest of the troop then had to 'clean up that mess', which involved bagging the bodies and throwing them into a nearby river."

There is one allegation from 2012 in the report that is completely redacted.

It happened in 2012 and is described as "possibly the most disgraceful episode in Australia's military history".

The report also detailed a kind of initiation junior officers were made to undertake.

"This shameful record includes alleged instances in which new patrol members were coerced to shoot a prisoner to achieve that soldiers' first kill in an appalling practice known as blooding," Chief of Defence Major General Angus Campbell said.

Justice Brereton described how "throwdowns" foreign weapons or equipment would then be placed with the body to create a cover story to "deflect scrutiny".

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GAC06 said:

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Rapier108 said:

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BusterAg said:

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I still hate the public arrest thing.

Does Australia have a court marshall system? That is where things like this belong.

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The DEI police chief who arrested Australia’s most decorated soldier for ‘war crimes’ has twice as many medals as Australia’s most decorated soldier.

Think about that for a moment. https://t.co/b3mamE7pSA pic.twitter.com/DCQsw5gwPv

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 7, 2026

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That's like claiming someone in the corps of cadets has more medals than someone in the military

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Mas89 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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The Australians investigated their special forces in Afghanistan from 2016-2020 and found credible evidence for dozens of civilian murders, including the systemic, outright execution of civilian prisoners and planting of weapons on dead civilians killed in combat. This wasn't, "Oh, we made a terrible mistake in the heat of combat," stuff, it was, "We just killed everyone and then planted guns to cover our asses," stuff. Because of the nature of who they were prosecuting and for what, it's taken a long time to bring some of the cases forward. Not saying he's guilty, but this is not a dog and pony show. These guys absolutely ****ed up bad.

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Afghanistan " Civilians" killed plenty of American and other soldiers in that time frame, often the " Civilians" were trained fighters wearing their Muslim attire and Not in uniform. Fighters hiding behind women and children while targeting our soldiers.

War is hell and those soldiers being charged were the ones there making split second decisions after they had been repeatedly attacked, wounded, and killed by the " Civilians". Easy to second guess from behind your computer screen.

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Urban Ag said:

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I'm sure this multi-year investigation was completely unbiased, assumed nothing, and had no intended outcome whatsoever.

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GAC06 said:

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Rapier108 said:

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BusterAg said:

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I still hate the public arrest thing.

Does Australia have a court marshall system? That is where things like this belong.

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The DEI police chief who arrested Australia’s most decorated soldier for ‘war crimes’ has twice as many medals as Australia’s most decorated soldier.

Think about that for a moment. https://t.co/b3mamE7pSA pic.twitter.com/DCQsw5gwPv

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) April 7, 2026

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That's like claiming someone in the Girl Scouts with lots of merit badges has more medals than someone in the military.

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Mas89 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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The Australians investigated their special forces in Afghanistan from 2016-2020 and found credible evidence for dozens of civilian murders, including the systemic, outright execution of civilian prisoners and planting of weapons on dead civilians killed in combat. This wasn't, "Oh, we made a terrible mistake in the heat of combat," stuff, it was, "We just killed everyone and then planted guns to cover our asses," stuff. Because of the nature of who they were prosecuting and for what, it's taken a long time to bring some of the cases forward. Not saying he's guilty, but this is not a dog and pony show. These guys absolutely ****ed up bad.

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Afghanistan " Civilians" killed plenty of American and other soldiers in that time frame, often the " Civilians" were trained fighters wearing their Muslim attire and Not in uniform. Fighters hiding behind women and children while targeting our soldiers.

War is hell and those soldiers being charged were the ones there making split second decisions after they had been repeatedly attacked, wounded, and killed by the " Civilians". Easy to second guess from behind your computer screen.

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Executing prisoners is not a split second decision. None of these were. These were outright systemic murders and executions ordered, overseen, and committed by noncoms over the course of years. I'm sorry, but you don't get a pass for that regardless of anything else you did or experienced.

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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These were outright systemic murders and executions ordered, overseen, and committed by noncoms over the course of years. I'm sorry, but you don't get a pass for that regardless of anything else you did or experienced.

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EFR said:

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Maybe we should watch the trial play out and see what evidence is presented.

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EFR said:

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I wouldn't read too much into the arrest. People with murder warrants don't generally get to choose their time date and place of surrender. My guess is the warrant was issued, cops knew where he was and went and got him. All we are seeing is what his attorneys and PR people are saying. Again, let's see what evidence is presented. It should be interesting and they may have some pretty solid evidence just based on how the civil trial turned out.

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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Mas89 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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The Australians investigated their special forces in Afghanistan from 2016-2020 and found credible evidence for dozens of civilian murders, including the systemic, outright execution of civilian prisoners and planting of weapons on dead civilians killed in combat. This wasn't, "Oh, we made a terrible mistake in the heat of combat," stuff, it was, "We just killed everyone and then planted guns to cover our asses," stuff. Because of the nature of who they were prosecuting and for what, it's taken a long time to bring some of the cases forward. Not saying he's guilty, but this is not a dog and pony show. These guys absolutely ****ed up bad.

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Afghanistan " Civilians" killed plenty of American and other soldiers in that time frame, often the " Civilians" were trained fighters wearing their Muslim attire and Not in uniform. Fighters hiding behind women and children while targeting our soldiers.

War is hell and those soldiers being charged were the ones there making split second decisions after they had been repeatedly attacked, wounded, and killed by the " Civilians". Easy to second guess from behind your computer screen.

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Executing prisoners is not a split second decision. None of these were. These were outright systemic murders and executions ordered, overseen, and committed by noncoms over the course of years. I'm sorry, but you don't get a pass for that regardless of anything else you did or experienced.

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BusterAg said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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These were outright systemic murders and executions ordered, overseen, and committed by noncoms over the course of years. I'm sorry, but you don't get a pass for that regardless of anything else you did or experienced.

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That would be no bueno, and likely deserves jailtime, if true. I don't know any of the facts.

But you have the DEI Grand Dragon Feminatzi prosecuting, so I have my doubts.

Again, I like the way that the US handles these situations, with court marshals. That would be a good venue.

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At the time Nine newspapers first published reports of the allegations in 2018, Roberts-Smith was considered a national hero, having been awarded Australia's highest military honour for single-handedly overpowering Taliban fighters attacking his SAS platoon.

In a bid to clear his name, he launched a high-profile legal battle - which spanned seven years, cost millions of dollars and was dubbed by some as Australia's "trial of the century".

However a Federal Court judge found - on the balance of probabilities - that Roberts-Smith had taken part in at least four murders, a judgement upheld on appeal.

Anthony Besanko found that Roberts-Smith had twice ordered unarmed men be shot dead to "blood" rookie soldiers, and was involved in the deaths of a handcuffed farmer he kicked off a cliff and a captured Taliban fighter whose prosthetic leg was taken as a trophy and later used by troops as a drinking vessel.

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EFR said:

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Maybe we should watch the trial play out and see what evidence is presented.

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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In a bid to clear his name, he launched a high-profile legal battle - which spanned seven years, cost millions of dollars and was dubbed by some as Australia's "trial of the century".

However a Federal Court judge found - on the balance of probabilities - that Roberts-Smith had taken part in at least four murders, a judgement upheld on appeal.

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Anthony Besanko found that Roberts-Smith had twice ordered unarmed men be shot dead to "blood" rookie soldiers, and was involved in the deaths of a handcuffed farmer he kicked off a cliff and a captured Taliban fighter whose prosthetic leg was taken as a trophy and later used by troops as a drinking vessel.

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Mas89 said:

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ABATTBQ11 said:

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The Australians investigated their special forces in Afghanistan from 2016-2020 and found credible evidence for dozens of civilian murders, including the systemic, outright execution of civilian prisoners and planting of weapons on dead civilians killed in combat. This wasn't, "Oh, we made a terrible mistake in the heat of combat," stuff, it was, "We just killed everyone and then planted guns to cover our asses," stuff. Because of the nature of who they were prosecuting and for what, it's taken a long time to bring some of the cases forward. Not saying he's guilty, but this is not a dog and pony show. These guys absolutely ****ed up bad.

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Afghanistan " Civilians" killed plenty of American and other soldiers in that time frame, often the " Civilians" were trained fighters wearing their Muslim attire and Not in uniform. Fighters hiding behind women and children while targeting our soldiers.

War is hell and those soldiers being charged were the ones there making split second decisions after they had been repeatedly attacked, wounded, and killed by the " Civilians". Easy to second guess from behind your computer screen.

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Hogties said:

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I've seen this movie before. The ending is already written.

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