GERMANY: SCOTTISH FILM MAKER HOPES DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ALLEGED MASSACRE OF TALIBAN PRISONERS IN AFGHANISTAN WILL LEAD TO US INQUIRY ABOUT MILITARY INVOLVEMENT

Record ID: 645800

  • Title: GERMANY: SCOTTISH FILM MAKER HOPES DOCUMENTARY ABOUT ALLEGED MASSACRE OF TALIBAN PRISONERS IN AFGHANISTAN WILL LEAD TO US INQUIRY ABOUT MILITARY INVOLVEMENT
  • Date: 18th December 2002
  • Summary: (W5) BERLIN, GERMANY (DECEMBER 18, 2002) (REUTERS) SLV SCOTTISH FILMAKER, JAMIE DORAN, WALKING WITH LUGGAGE THROUGH BERLIN AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) JAMIE DORAN, FILMAKER, SAYING "Initial allegations came last December, when we heard the first news that something had gone very wrong. And what actually happened was that eight thousand Taliban prisoners surrendered under guarantee their lives would be spared after the siege of Kunduz. Four hundred and seventy of those went to Kalai Janghi, including the American Taliban, John Walker Lindh. And, of course, the world's media focus was on that. No one seemed to bother asking 'what happened to the other seven and a alf thousand?' And that's what our story is about. And, effectively, four and a half thousand are missing and we believe up to three thousand have been killed."
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz
  • Reuters ID: LVA2VE7NFPA9HS8843M8ZCVE5YE
  • Story Text: A Scottish filmmaker has said he hopes his documentary about an alleged massacre of Taliban prisoners of war last year will lead authorities in the United States to investigate any involvement of American soldiers.
    In his film "Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death", which was broadcast on Germany's ARD television network on Wednesday (December 18), Doran quotes witnesses who saw U.S.
    special forces stand by and watch as Northern Alliance allies murdered Taliban prisoners of war.
    A spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Berlin rejected claims made in the film that American soldiers were involved in the torture, execution and disappearance of Taliban prisoners.
    Doran, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who covered the Afghan war for Japanese television, told Reuters during an interview in Berlin that up to 3,000 Taliban POWs were killed late last year after surrendering at Kunduz in northern Afghanistan.
    "The story came about last December, when we had the news that something had gone terribly wrong. What actually happened was that 8,000 Taliban prisoners surrendered in November under guarantee that their lives would be spared after the siege of Kunduz. Four-hundred-and-seventy of those went to Kalai Janghi, including the American Taliban John Walker Lindh and, of course, the world's media focus was on that. No one seemed to bother asking what ever happened to the other 7,500. That's what our story is about. Effectively, 4,500 are missing and we believe that up to 3,000 have been killed," Doran said.
    Forty six year-old Doran said witnesses from different ethnic groups in Afghanistan told him, during his investigation into the suspected war crimes, that they saw Taliban POWs herded into unventilated shipping containers, where many died of suffocation, thirst, or starvation.
    In the film, eyewitnesses are quoted saying some of the Taliban held in the containers for up to four days had taken to licking sweat off each other and even biting into the corpses lying next to them out of desperation.
    One witness said about 600 Taliban POWs who survived the shipment of the containers to the Shiberghan prison 120 km (75 miles) away were taken to a spot in the desert at Dasht-e-Leili and executed -- in the presence of about 30 to 40 U.S. special forces soldiers.
    "Many of the prisoners had already died of suffocation, others had died when Afghan soldiers simply fired into the sides of the containers, and one of our witnesses admits to shooting into the containers and murdering prisoners. What happened then was, because of the carnage at Shiberghan, the bodies were searched for identification and then, according to another witness, an American officer told them to get the containers out of the prison before satellite pictures could be taken," Doran said.
    "The containers were then taken to a place called Dasht-e-Leile which is a sandy area, about 10 minutes drive from the prison. There the living and the dead were taken off.
    The dead were thrown into a large hole which had been dug, the living were made to kneel down in front of the hole and were executed on the spot and thrown in with the dead. We have eyewitnesses talking of American soldiers being present on two of those occasions when the executions took place."
    Doran's 55-minute film also includes allegations from witnesses who say they saw U.S. soldiers taking part in the torture of Taliban POWs at the Shiberghan prison.
    Doran said he spent six weeks trying unsuccessfully to obtain comment from the Pentagon in Washington for his film.
    Afghan General Abdul Rashid Dostum has rejected reports his troops killed up to 1,000 Taliban fighters by taking them to Shiberghan prison in the airless containers. He said up to 200 died, but they were already badly injured from fighting.
    Dostum was a key U.S. ally in late 2001 when he helped oust the Taliban from northern Afghanistan with the help of U.S. air attacks. U.S. special forces are still in the north working with leaders to hunt Taliban and al Qaeda members.
    Doran said his documentary was screened on commercial and public networks in Britain, Australia and Italy. Rights have been sold, or are about to be sold, to networks in 25 territories.
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