Rights group: US 'punishments' for Kunduz massacre an 'insult'
Human rights campaigners have denounced the US military’s decision not to file criminal charges against officers involved in a disastrous bombing raid on a hospital in Afghanistan, saying it was an insult to the victims.
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US military officials said Thursday that more than a dozen military personnel were punished over the strike last October on the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) hospital in Kunduz, which left 42 people dead, triggering a storm of global criticism.
The punishments are largely administrative, such as letters of reprimand and ending chances for further promotion, officials said.
“For good reason the victims’ family members will see this as both an injustice and an insult: the US military investigated itself and decided no crimes had been committed,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Friday.
“The failure to criminally investigate senior officials liable for the attack is not only an affront to the lives lost at the MSF hospital, but a blow against the rule of law in Afghanistan and elsewhere,” the rights group added.
The medical charity MSF has condemned the raid as a “war crime,” and repeatedly called for an independent international investigation into the incident.
The hospital was attacked by a US Air Force AC-130 gunship, one of the most lethal military aircraft in the world.
The bombing raid, which lasted about one hour, left patients burning in their hospital beds with some victims decapitated and suffering traumatic amputations. The bombing raid left patients burning in their beds. (file photo)
“The (US) punishment is a joke,” said Saeed Haqyar, a Kunduz resident who lost his uncle in the strike, according to AFP.
“This barbaric, inhuman crime has pushed bereaved family members to the point of insanity. The perpetrators deserve to be hanged,” he added.
According to an investigation by the MSF, US military commanders continued to attack the hospital for 17 minutes after being warned that their aircraft was firing on a medical center full of doctors and civilians.
In November, the US military claimed the crew of the AC-130 gunship had been dispatched to hit a Taliban command center some 411 meters away from the hospital, but the crew was hampered by problems with their targeting sensors.
General John Campbell, who commanded US forces in Afghanistan at the time, said the attack was “caused primarily by human error,” prompting a strong rebuke from the MSF that slammed the US troops for their “gross negligence.”
US President Barack Obama has apologized to Afghanistan and the charity organization for the deadly airstrike, and the Pentagon has said it will compensate the facilities and the victims.
