Australia strips military medals over war crimes culture

Local media report that dozens of Australian soldiers are also being investigated for their roles in alleged war crimes. But so far charges have only been laid against one, former SAS trooper Oliver Schulz.

Former justice Paul Brereton found there was no credible information that officers high up the command chain knew of the alleged war crimes, but he said troop, squadron and task group commanders “bear moral command responsibility and accountability” for what happened under their watch.

They could not “in good conscience” retain their distinguished service medals – awarded for exceptional leadership in warlike operations – he said.

The issue of command accountability has been a vexing one for veterans.

Some have said they feel officers are being unfairly punished for others’ wrongdoing, but a government-commissioned report in May found “there is ongoing anger and bitter resentment” that their senior officers have not “publicly accepted some responsibility for policies or decisions that contributed to the misconduct”.

Responding to the decision to strip the officers’ medals, opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie, himself a former SAS soldier, said Australia must “learn from this tragic and bitter chapter in our military history”.

“Our soldiers must tell the truth and those in leadership must seek it out. If both our soldiers and our leaders had done so, we might not be in this place today,” he said.