Time-code

Speaker

Speech

00:00:12

JD

After the bloodiest battle of the entire Afghan war, 8,000 Taliban soldiers surrendered to the Northern Alliance and US Special Forces under guarantee that their lives would be spared. Today, up to 3,000 of those men lie in an unmarked desert grave and American soldiers stand accused by numerous eyewitnesses of being involved in their disappearance.

00:00:52

AM

I think the scale of it, if you talk about thousands of bodies and a cover-up of those bodies, it's comparable to thousands of bodies in New York. You know, that is very striking to me and that's I think this one will not go away.

00:01:37

AJ

I counted them one by one and handed over 8,000 prisoners but where are the rest of them? Only 3,015 are left.

UM

I hit the container with bullets to make holes for ventilation. Some of them were killed.

UM

I noticed that blood was running from the containers. I saw this horrific scene.

00:02:10

UM

Containers? Oh, no. It's not good to mention them.

UM

150 to 160 people were dead in each container. The Americans ordered the Sheberghan people to get rid of them before satellite pictures could be taken.

00:02:37

JD

If there are credible allegations from a good number of sources, an investigation should take place.

RP

Yes, absolutely, and I believe that would be the policy of the government of the United States and the military services involved.

00:02:59

UM

We brought all the prisoners from Sheberghan her to Dasht Leile. All the sick and injured were transferred to my truck and we brought them to this area we're in now. They took them to different sections - and then they shot them.

00:03:25

AM

Post-September 11 the cry has been for truth and justice and for perpetrators of international crimes to be tracked down and prosecuted and you can't have a double standard where you're saying we'll go to another country and track them down, imprison them and if they're found guilty we'll execute them in our courts but, on the other hand, if our boys are involved in it, then they can walk free and go back and live with their neighbours and their families and, in fact, we'll give them total immunity.

00:04:01

JD

What had you seen on the film by then?

00:04:26

Early excerpts from this film were shown to the European Parliament. We had received a warning from Afghanistan that the bodies of the murdered prisoners and thus the evidence might be removed. Following pressure from Brussels, the United Nations agreed to monitor the mass graves of Dasht Leile.

00:04:47

In the middle of June when we first revealed a small part of our story abut the mass graves here at Dasht Leile, the Pentagon effectively denied that the atrocity had taken place at all. They also denied that American soldiers were anywhere near the vicinity, nor that any American personnel had any knowledge whatsoever of such a thing taking place. We can now reveal that the Pentagon was lying.

00:05:13

Human rights lawyer, Andrew McEntee, was heavily involved in the establishment of the International Criminal Court and the man responsible for much of the investigation into the disappearance under General Pinochet's rule in Chile.

00:05:27

AM

The Department of Defence, at least the Pentagon, must say what the role was of the Special Forces. It must, for example, say whether or not they had effective command and control over the Afghanis.

00:05:38

UM

Everything was under the control of the American commander. Two or three hundred bodies were put in each container, then they took them to their final destination and buried them.

00:05:54

JD

The Pentagon has refused many requests over a long period of time to be interviewed for this film but a spokesman for the State Department has made it clear his government would prefer the focus of any inquiry to be on the actions of Afghan soldiers rather than their own.

00:06:10

PR

We are looking into the circumstances surrounding the events that are reported in recent press coverage as well as other allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes through our embassy in Kabul. We've stressed and continue to stress to Afghan authorities the importance of investigating allegations of human rights violations and war crimes.

00:06:35

JD

Our story begins in November 2001 in a mountain pass close to the town of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. Taliban soldiers have come to give themselves up under assurances they will not be harmed. These are the first pictures of their surrender. Within days over 4,000 will be missing, most of them dead. They were murdered by America's closest Afghan allies. But what was the role of US soldiers themselves in this massacre?

00:07:28

UM

Mazar Region in northwestern Afghanistan, scene of the most crucial battles of the entire war. Take Mazar and Kabul will be next.

00:07:43

RF

Why Mazar? The question has existed for two or even three thousand years. It's what's called strategic ground. It's where you have to hold this area if you want to get further south but it also controls the routes east-west, it controls the entry into the whole of the Asian Steppe. The allies, if they knew that they were going to get into Kabul, if they were going to get the Taliban out, they must have and hold Mazar-i-Sharif and they must have the people who control Mazar-i-Sharif on their side.

00:08:27

JD

The last battle for Mazar-i-Sharif was here, at the Sultan Mazar school in the centre. 600 Taliban cut off from those retreating to Kunduz made a final stand.

00:08:40

UM

They wouldn't surrender and they even killed the people we sent to negotiate with them. Our soldiers had only once choice - to fight them.

00:09:09

JD

The two major victors in the northwest of the country were rival warlords, Muhammad Atta and this man, General Rashid Dostum, widely recognised as the country's most ruthless commander and the man with whom America established its closest links during the war.

00:09:29

RF

They believe, certainly, that Dostum, in the very squeezed timetable that they had after 9/11, could deliver for them and he was the only one that could deliver and hold Mazar-i-Sharif. I think at that point they had realised that it simply wasn't an option in trading him down, in going for a rival, because it would have exposed the rather thin American Forces there to great danger as well.

00:09:53

RP

In a situation like that, you have to balance out the competing interests. Obviously we would much rather be aligned with Mother Theresa. That wasn't possible in those circumstances. It does lead to a responsibility on our part for trying to help reshape Afghanistan along more humane democratic lines and I think that's exactly what we should be doing.

00:10:24

UM

As Dostum conducted his battle plans, US Special Forces soldiers were constantly by his side.

00:10:32

RF

He's an extremely violent man with an extremely violent record and a very personal approach to the meting out of justice and extracting evidence under torture.

00:10:46

ARD

You know when people have friends they also have enemies. When someone gets well known, some people will say good things and some will say bad things. If you think I'm a bad person, a hard person, then you don't see me as the people around me see me.

00:11:14

UM

Dostum was the key Northern Alliance figure at the surrender of Kunduz.

00:11:19

ARD

Get 10 cars ready and take the commanders with you.

00:11:28

UM

One of the chief negotiators on the Taliban side was local commander, Amir Jan.

00:11:34

AJ

A meeting as arranged in Kalai Janghi with General Dostum, Maqaq and Atta. The Americans were there along with a few Englishmen. At the meeting they took a decision that the Afghans, except Mullah Omar, would be free to go home if they gave up their weapons and the Al-Qaeda and foreign fighters would hand themselves over under the protection of the United Nations.

00:12:17

JD

But before the final agreement had been signed, 470 mainly foreign Taliban soldiers broke off from the main group surrendering at Kunduz and arrived without warning at Mazar. They claimed to have come to give themselves up but the Northern Alliance commanders and their American allies were suspicious, fearing an attempted fight-back by the enemy.

00:12:48

UM

Take all the prisoners to Kalai Janghi - it's the most secure place.

00:13:09

JD

Kalai Janghi - a giant mud brick fort on the outskirts of Mazar which Dostum made his military headquarters after capturing the city. A section of the main building was made available to American Special Forces and CIA personnel who had arrived to interrogate the prisoners. The Taliban were housed in this block before being taken out one by one and made to sit in long lines across the fort interior, their arms tied behind their backs - Chechens, Arabs, Pakistanis and Uzbeks. Only a few were Afghans. Amongst the prisoners was John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban who attempted to conceal his identity from two CIA officers.

00:14:16

UM

The problem is, he needs to decide if he wants to live or die. He can die here. I mean, if he don't want to die here he's going to die here because we're just going to leave him. Short life. It's his decision. We can only help those guys who want to talk to us. We can only get the Red Cross to help so many guys. If they don't want to talk to us, we can't.

00:14:41

JD

Just an hour or so after these pictures were taken, one of them, Mike Spann, would be dead following an uprising amongst the prisoners.

00:14:50

SB

We heard some shots, some automatic rifle fire, coming from this direction over here. Now, I mean, again, you yourself know in Afghanistan, I mean, rifle... automatic rifle fire of a limited nature is not a particularly surprising thing. However, what happened was, this continued and then there were also some loud explosions.

00:15:16

UM

At one point two of them broke out - they grabbed a weapon from a guard and killed one of our soldiers. Then they grabbed grenades and threw them, killing many more. We're going to hit them hard - we won't let them survive. They are surrounded by us. There's only one way left for them - fight or be killed.

00:16:02

JD

Up to this point the British had denied that their Special Forces were operating inside Afghanistan but the SAS and SBS can clearly be seen leading the attack while US Air Force personnel call in plane strikes.

00:16:51

Our local researcher, Najibullah Quraishi, had taken these extraordinary pictures at the height of the battle.

00:17:00

NQ

They came up here on many occasions for a firefight and the last time I was here was at dusk and they had another fight and left. No one seemed bothered. Just one American soldier asked me where I was from and I replied that I am just an Afghan journalist.

00:17:27

JD

Later that same evening Quraishi almost list his own life during a Taliban mortar attack.

00:17:36

NQ

I wanted to go to one of the gates to interview some soldiers. On one side were the Taliban, on the other, our forces. A mortar round hit the Northern Alliance H.A. and then another one struck 10 or 20 metres from us. 17 of us were blown up and only 3 of us survived with injuries.

00:18:12

JD

By the morning of the third day of fighting every Taliban on the surface of the fort had been killed, many still with their arms tied behind their backs.

00:18:24

SB

I mean, you can see it's an extremely large area here. In fact, it's deceptively large when you're outside. They were spread all around. I mean, you can see behind us over here are the stables. There were many bodies actually inside. They appeared to be taking refuge of some description, piled together. You can see small copses here, trees, people obviously, I think, really thinking that maybe, if they could themselves in there... I mean, it was... It really was extremely disturbing to see the extent of the bodies and the way that they were spread out and, really, some of the horrific ways that they must have died in and the expressions on some of the faces were really... You know, as I say, they were disturbing, I think, for everybody who was associated with that exercise.

00:19:15

JD

But what no one knew at the time was that 86 Taliban soldiers had survived in the tunnels below the fort, including John Walker Lindh. When they finally surrendered, he and the others were questioned by Afghan soldiers prior to being handed over to the Americans.

00:19:59

JD

General Dostum arrived to reassure the prisoners. In front of the television cameras, he told them they would receive the best treatment available.

00:20:07

ARD

Don't be scared. No one is going to kill you. We're going to give you to the U.N. They can do what they like with you. Tell them that. Are there any wounded? Yes, yes. Take them to the hospital immediately.

00:20:35

JD

As for Lindh, after interrogation by US personnel, he was transferred to Cuba. Dostum began a mopping up operation, touring local villages, demanding that they hand over their weapons and any Taliban they might be hiding.

00:21:05

ARD

If you upset me, I'm telling you, no one except God up there, and me down here, will care about you. You will lose your honour - this is very serious. Your village might be looted, your family will be in danger. They'll be killed, they'll be raped. There will be no safety for you then. I'm telling you straight: you must be honest with me. I'm being honest with you here.

00:21:45

JD

By this time, most of the international press corps had packed up and gone home. The capture of the American Taliban had been the big story. The fate of the other 7,000-odd prisoners who'd surrendered at Kunduz was not front page news. Just a few miles away from Kalai Janghi lies another huge fortress, its name Kalai Zeini. The remaining Taliban were taken here before being sent on to a prison further west but, according to official figures, only 3,000 actually made it to that prison alive and the man who negotiated the surrender claims that many of these are not even amongst the original group he handed over.

00:22:02

AJ

Only 3,015 are left. And amongst these 3,015 are local people who were taken just for speaking Pashto. They also took local Pashtun from Balkh, Sheberghan, Memuna, Fariab and Sarapul. They counted them as Al-Qaeda too. These were not even part of the original 8,000.

00:22:58

JD

In an attempt to explain the missing prisoners, Dostum recently claimed that only between 3,000 and 4,000 gave themselves up at Kunduz. He was clearly unaware that this own general in command at Kalai Zeini at the time had already been interviewed by us.

00:23:18

AR

When the prisoners were captured in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, they came here to Kalai Zeini. When the prisoners were captured in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz, they came here to Kalai Zeini. About 7,000 of them came here and we took control of them.

00:23:35

JD

So, what happened to the missing thousands? It's known that some hundreds were sold to the security forces of their respective countries by the warlords, an Afghan tradition, Uzbeks to the feared SMB and Chechens to the KGB in Russia. Their fate can only be guessed at. The first few thousand to arrive at Kalai Zeini were the lucky ones. After final checks to ensure they had no weapons, they were allowed to continue their journey by truck to Sheberghan prison, some 120 kilometres to the west. The jail, built to accommodate just 600 at most, was bursting at the seams.

00:24:24

JD

Tell me about physically moving the prisoners from here to Sheberghan. That must have been very difficult.

00:24:30

AR

We used trucks to transport them. They were surrounded by soldiers. There weren't any buses so we used lorries for their transportation.

00:24:48

JD

At this point our researcher interrupts.

NQ

What about the containers?

AR

Containers? Oh, no. It's not good to mention them.

NQ

It's between you and me.

AR

We put some of the prisoners in containers but we had already made some holes for ventilation. We transported them by container to ensure we didn't lose any of them.

00:25:28

JD

In fact, as the last group start in swathes across Kalai Zeini, rumours of the revolt at Kalai Janghi reach Dostum's soldiers. The Taliban had killed many of their comrades and now revenge was in the air.

00:25:44

ARD

A group of Taliban from Kunduz, Balkh and Chimtal as well as those inside Kalai Janghi, had planned to take Mazar. Now their plans were smashed, but let me tell you, it was at a high cost. I had 205 injured and 45 killed.

00:26:19

JD

Now there would be little sympathy for the 3,000 Taliban prisoners yet to be transported to the jail at Sheberghan. In a coordinated operation, truck drivers from all over the region had their vehicles commandeered by armed soldiers. Containers were loaded onto the back of the flatbeds and the drivers compelled to take their vehicles to Kalai Zeini.

00:26:46

UM

We were coming in from Mazar when they seized our trucks for free and took us to Kalai Zeini where there were already a lot of trucks. At about 2 a.m, they loaded our trucks with the prisoners. We were to use the North of Kalai Zeini where we loaded the trucks.

00:27:29

JD

Originally loaded onto trucks at Kunduz, many of these men were crammed 200 to 300 at a time into the backs of sealed containers. After around 20 minutes, the prisoners began crying out for air.

00:27:59

UM

The weather was very hot, they put too many people inside the containers: many died because there was no air.

NQ

How many containers were at Kalai Zeini when you left?

UM

There were about 25 containers. The condition of them was very bad, because the prisoners couldn't breathe, so they shot into the containers and some of them were killed.

00:28:24

UM

They told us to stop the trucks and we came down. After that, they shot into the containers. Blood came pouring out of the containers, they were screaming inside.

00:28:37

JD

One Afghan soldier admits that he personally murdered prisoners.

00:28:41

UM

I hit the containers with bullets to make holes for ventilation and some of them were killed.

JD

You specifically shot holes into the containers. Who gave you those orders?

UM

My commanders ordered me to hit the containers to make holes for ventilation and because of that, some prisoners died.

00:29:02

JD

But this was no humanitarian gesture. Rather than shooting into the roofs of the containers, the soldiers fired at random, killing those nearest the walls. A local taxi driver had called in at a petrol station on the road to Sheberghan.

00:29:21

UM

I smelled something strange and asked the attendant where the smell was coming from. He said: "Look behind you". There were three trucks with containers fixed on them. Blood was running from the containers. My hair stood on end. It was horrific.

00:29:47

JD

Whether or not the prisoners in the containers were ever really destined to reach Sheberghan must be open to question. The jail was full and those already incarcerated were facing hardships of a different at the hands of American soldiers. They were reluctant to talk, particularly when the prison chiefs hovered close by, listening to our conversation. But one Taliban who had been filmed during the surrender was more forthcoming when we interviewed him out of earshot of the prison guards.

00:30:23

UM

They were searching for Bin Laden and questioning us about Al-Qaeda. They were cruel; they took some of our men to Cuba and they did a lot of things in here which scared us. The American commandoes beat many of us, to scare us into talking.

00:30:50

JD

One of the Afghan officers present at the time confirms his story.

00:30:55

UM

They cut their hair and beards; mainly the Arab prisoners. Sometimes they chose one for pleasure, took the prisoner outside, beat them and then returned them to the prison. But sometimes they were never returned and they disappeared. The prisoner disappeared; I was a witness.

00:31:15

UM

They came after 2 or 3 days. They broke some prisoners' necks and were beating others. They were crying, but everyone ignored them.

JD

These things you saw specifically yourself?

UM

Yes.

00:31:36

JD

But for those prisoners crammed inside the containers, a quick death would have come as a blessing. Some of them remained for days in the desert before reaching Sheberghan. Accounts from survivors talk of licking the sweat off each other's bodies and even biting their fellow captives in a desperate effort to gain fluids in any form. The Pentagon has stated frequently that it knew nothing of the container convoy.

00:32:07

UM

The Americans were in charge.

NQ

Where were they, on the walls or near the gates of the fort?

UM

They were standing at the front gates, where the prisoners were.

00:32:18

UM

When we got to Sheberghan Prison, there were some Americans and some Afghan soldiers. They wanted to unload the trucks and they were taking charge of the area.

NQ

How many American soldiers were there?

UM

About 150 to 160. We didn't count the number.

NQ

What were the Americans doing in the prison?

00:32:47

UM

They were there to make sure the prison was secure. There were so many Americans and they were all armed and wearing their uniforms.

00:33:05

JD

As the containers were opened, the full extent of the carnage became apparent. One soldier, who has since fled from Afghanistan, describes the scene in an interview with a Pakistani newspaper.

00:33:18

UM

I shall never forget the sensation as long as I live. It was the most revolting and most powerful stench you could ever imagine: a mixture of faeces, urine, blood, vomit and rotting flesh. It was a smell to make you forget all other smells you ever experienced in your life.

00:33:39

JD

For ten days the Red Cross tried to get access but were refused. They were told that they couldn't enter because American soldiers were working inside and this picture, taken at Sheberghan on 1 December 2001, during the period when the containers were arriving at the prison, confirms their presence. Witnesses speak of US soldiers searching the dead for identification before insisting that the Afghans remove the bodies from the prison. The Pentagon, however, will not comment.

00:34:13

RF

It was particularly important to find any identification on these bodies because they were desperate for intelligence on Al-Qaeda. They had underestimated the strength of Al-Qaeda and it spread. They knew very little about it. So, human sensibilities did go out of the window.

00:34:33

JD

The healthy captives were led into the prison and the dead packed into single containers but many of the prisoners had not died, some were so badly wounded, they were thrown back into the containers with the dead. Others were simply unconscious following the journey to Sheberghan. Using a small tourist camera to avoid detection, we travelled to the deserts of Dasht Leile, just ten minutes from the prison, with two drivers who agreed to show us where they were ordered to take the containers.

00:35:09

UM

Some of the Taliban were injured and others were so weak they were unconscious. We brought them to this place, which is called Dasht Leile, and they were shot there, there and over there.

00:35:38

UM

They took my truck and loaded a container onto it and I carried prisoners from Kalai Zeini to Sheberghan, and after that, to Dasht Leile where they were shot by the soldiers. I made four trips backwards and forwards with the prisoners.

00:35:57

JD

The mounds of sand show clearly where many of the bodies lie. Human bones and a few pieces of clothing with Pakistani labels are all that remain of those buried near the top of the piles.

00:36:14

NQ

How many people were you carrying?

UM

About 140 to 150 each time.

NQ

Did you bring them here?

UM

Yes.

NQ

What was done with these people?

UM

They were brought here and shot.

NQ

They were alive?

UM

Some of them were alive: some of these were injured and the rest were unconscious.

00:36:43

NQ

When you brought the prisoners here, were there any American soldiers with you?

UM

Yes, they were with us.

NQ

Here, at this spot?

UM

Yes, here.

NQ

How many American soldiers were with you?

UM

Lots of them. Maybe 30 to 40. They came with us for the first two times but I didn't see them on the last two trips.

00:37:01

JD

If American soldiers were involved in covering up their role at Sheberghan Prison, it would border on war crimes. If they stood by as the summary execution of prisoners took place when they could have intervened, this would be positively criminal. But could the United States argue they were not in a responsible position?

00:37:22

RF

They would not have taken orders from Afghan. They would have been in charge of security there, therefore it is an American command, therefore it is ultimately an American responsibility for whatever went on under the eyes of those American soldiers.

00:37:38

AM

It's quite clear that because you have filmed evidence of a mass grave, people confessing that the relevant authorities, be they American, Afghani or international, they must carry out an investigation. You have identified the site of a mass grave. You've identified bodies in those graves and it's quite clear, again, that pathologists, forensic pathologists, exhuming the bodies could identify the cause of death and, I think, very importantly, could identify who these people are because their families have a right to know. They have been disappeared involuntarily after being murdered.

00:38:19

JD

Late September 2002, just over a year after the murder of over 3,000 Americans by Al-Qaeda, human rights expert, Andrew McEntee, arrives at the scene of another massacre, this time said to involve US Special Forces.

00:38:36

AM

I understand from very good sources and international organisations, together with the witnesses, that we're certainly talking about 2,000 upwards here, 2,000 to 2,500 in this area.

00:38:47

JD

Is this from a reliable source, an official source?

AM

Yes. I'm not at liberty to say who but I can tell you, it's a fairly reliable source which has not yet gone public.

00:38:57

JD

The grave covers an area well in excess of 1,000 square metres.

00:39:02

AM

Everything I've seen here is consistent with testimonies I've heard and read. This seems to be a large area where there is at least... There are several pits here which clearly have bodies in them, clothing, bullets that are consistent with shootings beside the graves. There are bullets all over the place, cases of bullets, and somebody's been a bit clumsy in removing evidence. The Americans couldn't have been kept out of the fact there was a major industrial operation with excavation going on here and containers coming in, the area closed off for a couple of days. They couldn't have been kept out of that. Having effective command and control does mean they were senior in the chain of command with knowledge or, presuming they had knowledge of what was going on, yes, they had a responsibility to stop it.

00:39:52

JD

General Dostum has said recently that he would agree to an international investigation but there's a small problem. He says he can't guarantee the safety of those involved.

00:40:04

MG

We have recently spoken with the local leaders regarding this investigation. They have made statements that they were prepared to cooperate with an investigation and what we raised with them is how about, for instance, security, both for the investigators but also for witnesses, and they say that they cannot provide 100% security.

00:40:35

JD

Every one of our witnesses has risked their lives by taking part in this film. These and many others too frightened to be interviewed are willing to appear at any future international inquiry if their safety is guaranteed. Surely you should be considering as a priority a witness protection scheme now.

00:40:57

MG

Which you can only do with many other actors; you don't do alone. You said you have been to this country several times. You probably know the risks for those who are here, therefore you know it's not a simple endeavour.

00:41:17

JD

Security in northern Afghanistan is a virtually impossible concept to grasp, particularly when you're investigating the very people who hold all the cards. Our local researcher, Najibullah Quraishi, had managed to access damning footage of events at Kalai Zeini, Sheberghan and Dashte Leile. He had been shown a tape of one and a half hours in length which included film of Dostum's soldiers shooting into the containers, American personnel surrounding those same containers as the bodies were dragged off at Sheberghan and, crucially, pictures of the summary executions at Dashte Leile with US Special Forces standing by, doing nothing to intervene. A price was agreed and Najibullah left Mazar for the handover. We could only wait. As the day wore on, we became concerned.

00:42:13

NQ

I had taken a VCR with me, to copy the film. I rewound it to the beginning and started making the copy. I only managed to record one and a half minutes, during the time on the film, when they were loading the Taliban onto the containers. They were opening and loading them onto containers, and then they started shooting into the containers. Just then, a fat man entered the room. There were three people, one of whom was armed. The person who was giving me the film told me, "This is my brother". His brother swore at him and said he'd told him not to give the film to anyone. "Why have you given him the film?" he asked. Then they started beating us. They hit my head a lot at the beginning. After that I fell unconscious.

00:43:11

JD

Drifting in and out of consciousness, he remembers being driven in a car, his captors apparently planning to dispose of his body.

00:43:19

NQ

One of them was saying, "there's a well around here". They stopped the car and took me out. Then another car arrived, but they started beating me again. After that I don't know what happened. I woke up and I was home.

00:43:42

JD

Although nothing can be certain, it appears that the people in the other car knew Najibullah and managed to save his life, despite his captors giving him a final beating.

00:43:52

NQ

There was some very interesting and dangerous footage on the film.

00:43:57

JD

Could this film be General Dostum's insurance policy? Could he be saying, if I get accused of war crimes, then I'll bring down the Americans with me? What evidence did you see in the film of American involvement?

00:44:15

NQ

I saw lots of them at Sheberghan prison. We can see it on the footage, Americans at Sheberghan prison; you can see them standing by when they open the containers. There's a lot of footage of them. You can also see a few of them at Dasht Leile.

00:44:46

UM

For eight days Najibullah remained under armed guards we provided at a safe house far from Mazar until he was ready to travel.

00:44:56

UM

The winner of the 2002 Rory Peck Award for Hard News is Najibullah Quraishi.

00:45:05

JD

And after recuperation in London lasting over a month, his bravery was recognised with a major award for work contained in this film.

00:45:21

NQ

I wish a safe and prosperous life for all the journalists in the world, without interference in their profession, and also I would like to dedicate this award to the people of Afghanistan, my lovely country.

00:45:48

JD

But without an independent inquiry into the events in northern Afghanistan, that bravery will have been wasted. The United Nations fears for the safety of its own staff and the United States will not allow its military personnel to be tried for alleged war crimes abroad. While the Pentagon refused to be interviewed for this programme, we did manage to extract some information. In June Colonel Rick Thomas told us they had held an internal inquiry and that they were satisfied that no American personnel had taken part in, nor observed, any atrocity at Sheberghan or Dasht Leile. But in recent days Colonel Thomas told us there was no inquiry after all, merely a short debriefing of soldiers as they arrived home.

00:46:44

RF

NATO armies have boards of inquiry and I would be astonished that nothing has happened in the United States bout this. It must be looked into.

00:46:53

JD

In Kabul at least there's a glint of light suggesting that the fledgling administration there is willing to follow a path where the US authorities may fear to tread.

00:47:04

JD

What would the Afghan government's reaction be if these crimes were proved against the forces of General Dostum? What would your government's reaction be?

00:47:16

TMW

If investigators find that there is crime, Afghan government exactly follow that in court.

JD

In the courts.

TMW

Yes. You are sure, 100%.

JD

You would take General Dostum to court?

TMW

Sure.

00:47:36

UM

But the reality is that while the Afghan government appears willing to try its most dangerous warlord in the courts, their chances of success are virtually nil. The Kabul administration has no real influence outside the capital and would need the support of Dostum's greatest ally, America, to launch an investigation. The US authorities for their part are desperate to avoid such a scenario as it would almost certainly result in their own soldiers facing charges of war crimes. One source inside the Pentagon told us, "You have to understand: there are folk in here who would rather this story just went away." But pressure is beginning to grow in Washington.

00:48:24

JD

These are prisoners who gave themselves up.

RP

Right.

JD

Were disarmed and then shipped out to the desert.

RP

Yes, no, that would be obviously a very serious concern and not something that we would approve.

00:48:35

JD

Would it concern you that American soldiers were standing by watching as they were murdered?

RP

Yes, it would.

JD

Would you believe those were grounds for a major investigation?

RP

Absolutely.

JD

You would like to see that investigation?

00:48:47

RP

Absolutely. If there is credible evidence that Americans were present when prisoners were being executed, that certainly will have to be investigated.

00:48:58

RF

The American Command has what is known as the stovepipe in operations, that means war, it goes from top to bottom and bottom to top. So, even the Pentagon would have known very, very quickly.

00:49:10

AM

A crime is a crime under American criminal law. There is prima facie evidence. It's building, it's growing and I think the force of this must lead to the Pentagon, if it's got any sense, coming out with an open inquiry and a proper investigation, including asking itself, has there been a cover-up in the Pentagon as well as in Afghanistan?