Abuse of boys OK in Afganistan - It's a cultural thing!

[waltky]

You don't want to know the truth - you can't handle the truth...

US General: Troops Weren't Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Afghan Boys
Sep 22, 2015 | WASHINGTON -- The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said Tuesday he expects U.S. personnel to report to military superiors any allegations of sexual abuse of boys by Afghan forces. He added that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has assured him the government "will not tolerate abuse of its children."

The statement from Army Gen. John Campbell, who heads U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, came in response to reports that Afghan forces who worked with U.S. military personnel sexually assaulted boys and that U.S. troops were told to ignore suspicions of abuse. Members of Congress have complained that a U.S. soldier was forced out of the military because he intervened in 2011, attacking an Afghan police commander he believed was raping a child.

Campbell, in his statement, said he was confident there had never been a policy that U.S. troops were to ignore suspicions of abuse. The general said he expects "any suspicions of sexual abuse will be immediately reported to the chain of command, regardless of who the alleged perpetrators or victims are."

Campbell said if the alleged abuse involves Afghans, the reports will be forwarded to him and to the staff judge advocate so that the Afghan government "can be advised and requested to take action." The general said Ghani "made it clear to me that the Afghan government will not tolerate the abuse of its children, or any of its people, and will thoroughly investigate all allegations and administer justice appropriately."

Gen. John Campbell stands during a transfer of authority ceremony at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan

The State Department, in its annual human rights reports, has consistently said that sexual abuse of children remains pervasive in Afghanistan. In its 2014 report, the State Department said that many child sexual abusers are not arrested, and "there were reports security officials and those connected to the ANP (Afghan National Police) raped children with impunity."

The New York Times reported that U.S. soldiers and Marines said they were told to look the other way when they suspected child sexual abuse by Afghan forces and in some cases were disciplined for trying to stop it.

US General: Troops Weren't Told to Ignore Sexual Abuse of Afghan Boys | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Muslim boy-play is part of their culture...

Pentagon Deeply Concerned Over Reports of Afghan Allies' Abuse of Boys
Sep 21, 2015 | The U.S. military command in Afghanistan was fully aware of long-standing charges that some Afghan commanders were pederasts and had sexually abused young boys who were chained to beds on American bases, the Pentagon said Monday.

The practice of "bacha bazi," or "boy play" by those in authority, including Afghan military commanders, was "absolutely abhorrent. We're deeply concerned about it," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The U.S. military in Afghanistan was working with the Afghans "to put an end to horrific practices like this," Davis said, but the matter was essentially one for the Afghans to resolve. He said "It's a violation of Afghan laws. It's a violation of their international obligations," but "it's fundamentally an Afghan law enforcement matter."

Davis was responding to a recent report in The New York Times on the abuse by Afghan commanders of young boys known as "tea boys" or "dancing boys." The report said that at least two U.S. officers who tried to intervene to stop the abuse were disciplined. Davis said the policy was to have the U.S. military in Afghanistan report human rights abuses such as the sexual exploitation of young boys through the chain of command. "We've never had a policy in place that directs any military member or any government personnel overseas to ignore human rights abuses," Davis said.

The U.S. military has been aware of the abuse by Afghan commanders going back at least to 2012, when a "tea boy" linked to an Afghan commander turned a weapon on Marine Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr., at a base in southwestern Helmand province and killed him. Gregory Buckley Sr., told the newspaper that American officers were ordered to turn a blind eye to the sexual abuse of Afghan boys, even on military bases, because that was not the "priority of the mission."

Pentagon Deeply Concerned Over Reports of Afghan Allies' Abuse of Boys | Military.com

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - an' dey ought make him a Lt. an' give him an increase in pay, an' dey oughta can dat Afghan officer...

‘It’s a National Disgrace’: Congressmen Introduce Resolution Demanding the Reinstatement of Green Beret Who Attacked Alleged Child Rapist
Sep. 30, 2015 - Two Republican lawmakers introduced a House resolution Wednesday that calls for the reinstatement of the Green Beret who retaliated against an American-backed Afghan police commander who allegedly raped a young boy repeatedly.

Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland is set to be involuntarily discharged on Nov. 1 after he was involved in an altercation with the officer who Martland and another soldier said raped a 12-year-old boy multiple times and had his mother physically harmed for attempting to intervene. “What’s happened to the sergeant is a national disgrace,” Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan told TheBlaze in an interview Wednesday afternoon.

Buchanan and Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) introduced a resolution that demands the reinstatement of Martland as a member of the U.S. Army and says members of the Armed Forces should not be punished for standing up to child rapists. Buchanan told TheBlaze that he hopes to get the resolution to the House floor in the coming weeks and said he has already spoken to members of the House leadership who are “anxious to get it on the floor,” as well. “I can’t imagine anybody not supporting the sergeant,” Buchanan said. “I think he should be recognized as a war hero, not as somebody who gets thrown out of the service. So we’re going to take one step at a time, and our goal is to focus on this resolution right now,” he said. “It’s a national disgrace; he needs to be reinstated. That’s going to be our trust and our momentum we’re going to put behind this.”

While lawmakers have introduced — and will introduce — resolutions on a variety of different subjects, Buchanan expects his resolution will make a big impact and garner the support of all 435 House members. In a statement sent to Hunter earlier this week, Martland described his graphic encounter with the “brutal rapist” in Afghanistan. Martland and team leader Capt. Daniel Quinn were removed from the Afghan outpost following an investigation into the altercation in Sept. 2011. Quinn has since left the military, but Martland’s appeal to overturn his impending discharge was dismissed. “While I understand that a military lawyer can say that I was legally wrong, we felt a moral obligation to act,” Martland wrote in his statement.

MORE

 

[Desperado]

Again if it is a cultural thing! Then we are supporting the wrong culture and should pull our troops out of immediately. If we don't than it can be seen as we are passively supporting this type of behavior

 

[longknife]

SFC Manning to Get 60 Day Delay on Discharge



Apparently public and Congressional pressure is working and the sergeant will get the option to appeal his pending discharge. The Army Board for the Correction of Military Records does not have a list of members. But my personal experience tells me there's a clerical staff that reviews the applications, makes recommendations and submits it to the board which has to be made up of Colonels and Generals.



Read the short story @ Military Gives Final Hope For Green Beret Who Was Set to Be Discharged for Stopping Child Rape

 

[waltky]

They should name it after Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland...

Lawmakers Urge US Crackdown on Afghan Child Sex Slavery
Sep 01, 2016 - US lawmakers are pressing Washington to get tough on institutionalized sexual slavery of boys by Afghan forces, with some invoking a human rights law that prohibits American aid to foreign military units committing such violations.

The call follows an AFP report in June which revealed the Taliban are exploiting the entrenched practice of paedophilic "bacha bazi" -- literally "boy play" -- in the Afghan police to mount deadly insider attacks in the country's volatile south. The revelation prompted congressman Duncan Hunter to demand US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter take "immediate steps to stop child rape" amid an American military presence in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense replied to Hunter last week, stating in a letter seen by AFP that it was committed to holding perpetrators accountable. The letter added that General John Nicholson, the US commander in Afghanistan, had "reaffirmed" tactical guidance "stating that when US personnel suspect members of (Afghan security forces) have violated human rights, including child sexual abuse, they must report that... to appropriate (Afghan) officials".

Afghan police commander Seddiqullah says the use of child sex slaves is mostly by those in positions of power and so is hard to stamp out.​

The response falls far short of a zero tolerance policy, Hunter said. "At the very least, the US government should state, as a position of official policy, that child rape amid a US force presence won't be tolerated and expectations should be imposed on how allegations and evidence are handled," he told AFP this week. "So far that's yet to occur beyond a simple reporting requirement." That view was echoed by other US lawmakers who last year called on watchdog agency SIGAR to launch an independent probe into "predatory sexual behavior" by Afghan forces, which is still ongoing. Many had expressed shock over media reports suggesting the US military had disciplined American personnel who tried to intervene to stop bacha bazi abuse, and urged SIGAR to focus on the implementation of the so-called Leahy Law. The 1997 law, named after Senator Patrick Leahy, prohibits US assistance to allied foreign military and police units against whom credible evidence of grave human violations exists.

'Huge problem'

Leahy "is concerned that DoD was not treating this issue seriously enough until it was reported in the press," his office told AFP this week. "He believes that anyone who engages in (child sex abuse) is ineligible under the Leahy Law for US training, equipment or other assistance and should be prosecuted." The fresh call to apply the law comes ahead of a crucial donor conference on Afghanistan in Brussels in October. The war-battered country remains heavily dependent on international financial and military assistance. "(Leahy) is the legal backstop that's intended to promote a zero tolerance policy," said congressman Thomas Rooney. "If the law is not being administered appropriately or sufficiently... that's a huge problem, especially in places like Afghanistan where we have spent billions on training their security forces."

The ancient custom of bacha bazi, seen as a culturally sanctioned form of male rape, remains widespread in Afghanistan. In June an AFP report cited multiple officials who said it was entrenched in police outposts in southern Uruzgan province, where the Taliban are exploiting the "addiction" to recruit victims for insider attacks. The Taliban rejects the claim. Kabul announced a "thorough investigation" but it has yet to pass legislation criminalizing bacha bazi and no initiatives have been publicly announced to rescue any children enslaved at security outposts.

Lawmakers Urge US Crackdown on Afghan Child Sex Slavery | Military.com

 

[Vigilante]