Poland’s Minister of Defense, Bogdan Klich (photo)has given testimony in the trial of Polish soldiers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan: an incident which he calls a ‘mistake.’
Klich cited the words of American Colonel Martin Schuitzer, who called the incident - where Polish soldiers became involved in a shooting incident in the village of Nangar Khel, resulting in the killing of eight innocent civilians, including a pregnant woman and child - ‘a mistake’, and added that the US army makes such mistakes once or twice a month. But this was the first mistake Polish soldiers had made in ten months deployment in Afghanistan.
“Col. Schuitzer’s words have had some influence on my opinion of the situation,” stated Klich in court, Wednesday. “I filed [a report with the court] after my discussions with Col. Schuitzer, who I met on 21 December 2007 at the base in Afghanistan. I testified that his opinion could be very important to the case.”
“I was counting on the fact that the prosecutor would want to hear his testimony, but after a while, I realized that this would not be easy,” added the minister in open court proceedings.
For over one hour last week, former General of the Military Gendarmerie of the Polish Armed Forces, Jan Zukowski, gave a closed-door testimony on the Nangar Khel incident.
“I did not attach any importance to the incident because such situations happen in the military,” stated Zukowski.
Warsaw’s Military District Court is currently prosecuting seven soldiers for the alleged unlawful use of heavy machine gun fire and mortar shelling in the village, after clashes with Taliban forces. The incident took place on 16 August 2007 under the auspices of the ISAF mission in the country. It was allegedly prompted by an attack on the Polish contingent by Taliban militants.
Conflict between soldiers and intelligence units?
The court decided to close the trial to the public because Zukowski gave testimony on the secret report filed by the Military Counter-Intelligence unit, authored by the then-head Antoni Macierewicz, a controversial right-wing politician.
Zukowski added that the suggestion that the soldiers intentionally opened-fire on civilians in Nangar Khel first appeared in a report prepared by the Military Counter-Intelligence. From testimony that Zukowski did reveal, Macierewicz’s report does include fragments of hearings with soldiers from the scene and information gathered by agents.
According to the soldiers’ defence attorneys, the Counter-Intelligence report ‘set the direction’ for the investigation. Macierewicz, from the Counter-Intelligence unit, refutes the accusations that the statements in the report are a result of a feud between the soldiers and special services officers. Macierewicz stated in May 2008 that such allegations are “completely untrue.”
At the end of April 2009, General Bronislaw Kwiatkowski, responsible for foreign missions, testified that during the Polish soldier’s first deployment in Afghanistan he did not witness any signs of problems or conflict between soldiers and special services. However, Kwiatkowski admitted that near to the end of the battalions first deployment, he learned of two minor incidents of conflict.
The first is documented in a report by contingent member General Marek Tomaszycki and refers to a special services officer who requisitioned a computer in order to secure some classified information. The second incident involves another special services officer who acted out at Tomaszycki’s negative opinion of his work.
“Mainly, it is about the fact that the special services, instead of first providing the information to the leaders of the contingent, passed it on to their superiors in Poland,” claimed Tomaszycki.
Operational soldiers from the Waza Khwa base, southeast Afghanistan, have expressed a negative opinion throughout the trial about the special service officers. One of the accused soldiers, Captain Olgierd C., stated during trial in February that he has a very poor opinion of the work that the Military Counter-Intelligence officers in Afghanistan.
“For a long time, before I opened fire, they did not take part in any projects organized by the group. We relied on our own reconnaissance,” Cpt. Olgierd C. stated, referring to the counter-intelligence officers.
The accused soldiers initially maintained that they were sure that they were exchanging fire with Afghani militants. However, it has been revealed in trial that this was a story thought up, after the event, to avoid further consequences.
Besides Cpt. Olgierd C., Sub-Lieutenant Lukasz Bywalec, Lt. Andrzej Osiecki, Platoon Commander Tomasz Borysiewicz, and three older privates: Damian Ligocki, Jacek Janik, and Robert Boksa are all standing trial.
Six of them, accused of killing civilians, could face life imprisonment if convicted. The seventh, being tried for ‘opening fire on an unarmed target’ will face 25 years in prison if convicted.
The soldiers have gained support from many military officers and celebrities, including General Slawomir Petelicki, the founder and first commander of the Polish special forces unit GROM, and Dorota Rabczewska, known as Doda – a famous Polish pop singer. (mmj/jg)