KABUL — Family members of Afghans unlawfully killed by foreign military forces during the two-decade war in Afghanistan are still waiting for justice, Human Rights Watch said on Monday, as it pointed to starkly different approaches by Australia and the United Kingdom in addressing alleged war crimes.
Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that while Australia has taken “commendable” steps by launching a platform for victims’ families to file complaints, progress remains slow and incomplete.
Australia’s Ministry of Defense recently launched an official website in both Dari and Pashto that allows families of Afghan victims to request compensation. The website comes five years after a national inquiry exposed serious misconduct by Australian forces in Afghanistan, including alleged summary executions of civilians and prisoners. So far, only one soldier has been formally charged.
Despite the platform’s creation, Gossman said, concerns persist about the country’s approach to justice. In August 2024, United Nations experts criticized Australia’s handling of compensation claims, saying the process risked being perceived as “charity” rather than a legal right under international law. They also raised concerns over a lack of transparency in engaging with victims and their families.
“Afghan human rights activists are now organizing online panels to publicize the site,” Gossman noted, urging the Australian government to do more to ensure affected families are informed and empowered to file complaints.
In contrast, the United Kingdom has made what Gossman called “much slower progress.”
Last week, the BBC’s investigative program Panorama aired new evidence of war crimes allegedly committed by British special forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. The broadcast included testimony from former soldiers who described the killing of civilians, including children and wounded detainees. One soldier recounted how troops handcuffed and executed a boy “clearly not even close to fighting age.”
Although the UK launched an independent inquiry in December 2022, its scope remains narrow—limited to the years 2010 through 2013—and it has yet to yield results. Gossman accused successive UK governments of stalling prosecutions and attempting to suppress evidence of misconduct.
Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, said the latest allegations reinforced “the need for comprehensive accountability” and underscored that only meaningful legal action could deliver justice to victims and their families.
Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups have repeatedly urged both governments to fulfill their obligations under international law and ensure that survivors and families receive more than symbolic recognition.
