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Exclusive
Family speaks after Australian soldiers used Afghan man's prosthetic leg to drink beer
EXCLUSIVE: For the first time, the family of the Afghan man whose prosthetic leg was used to drink alcohol by Australian soldiers have given their account of the day he died.
Published 21 November 2023 5:48am
By Michelle Jasmin Dimasi, Finn McHugh
Source: SBS News
Image: In photos first published by the Nine newspapers, Roberts-Smith smiles as another soldier drinks from Ahmadullah's prosthetic leg. (Nine Newspapers)
KEY POINTS
- The family of an Afghan man whose leg was used as a drinking vessel by Australian soldiers has responded.
- They describe it as "heartbreaking" and want justice more than a decade on.
- The family members say they are prepared to travel to Australia to testify.
The family of an Afghan man killed by veteran Ben Roberts-Smith have described Australian soldiers as "heartbreaking", and are prepared to travel here to seek justice.
A that Roberts-Smith, Australia's most decorated veteran, was on the balance of probabilities a war criminal and culpable for four murders during deployments to Afghanistan.
The Victoria Cross recipient , and has not been charged with a crime.
Ahmadullah's leg was used as a drinking vessel by Australian special forces. This photo was first published by the Nine newspapers. Credit: Nine Newspapers
SBS News can reveal the two men were a father and son - Mohammed Essa and Ahmadullah, whose leg was taken after he was killed. He left behind three children and a pregnant wife.
Speaking to Australian media for the first time, the pair's family have revealed their account of the day their relatives were killed, saying they have not been contacted by Australian authorities currently investigating allegations of war crimes committed in Afghanistan.
The family still live in Whiskey 108, and said they have struggled to survive for over a decade since the killings and would travel to Australia in their quest for justice.
"They have oppressed us very severely. They haven't done such injustice to anyone else as they have to us," Rabia, wife of Mohammed Essa, and Ahmadullah's mother, said via a translator.
Roberts-Smith has never denied killing Ahmadullah, but . He denied shooting or ordering Mohammed Essa's death.
'It was heartbreaking for me'
After both men were killed, another soldier took Ahmadullah's prosthetic leg back to base at Tarin Kowt. It was framed and placed in the squad's bar.
Over the next few years, the Nine newspapers and the Guardian published a series of photos showing Australian soldiers drinking alcohol out of the plastic limb. Roberts-Smith is seen smiling as he stands near the leg in some images, though the Victoria Cross recipient denies ever drinking from it.
Esmatullah (left) was 10 when the raid occurred, and says he is prepared to travel to Australia to seek justice. Credit: Michelle Jasmin Dimasi
But he became aware that it was turned into a macabre souvenir by the Australians when he was shown pictures from the bar.
"It was heartbreaking for me. I was very young, a child when this happened," he told SBS News via a translator.
"My message to the Australian government is: find these people and bring them to court."
Ahmadullah had been married to his wife Malika for six years by the time he was killed, when the pair were expecting their third child. She was also aware of pictures showing Australians drinking out of her husband's leg, but had never seen them.
"It gives me heart pain," she said.
Prepared to testify
A number of Afghans testified via videolink during the defamation trial, including witnesses to the killing of Ali Jan - a man who Roberts-Smith was found likely to have kicked off a cliff in 2012, before ordering another solider to kill him.
But any investigation by Australia into crimes in Afghanistan has been complicated by the Taliban's takeover in 2021.
The hardline Islamist group in June that it may be prepared to allow Australian officials into Afghanistan to investigate allegations of war crimes carried out by the SAS, though questions remain over the admissibility of evidence obtained under its watch.
Ahmadullah's three sons (in the foreground) sit near the site of their parents' old home. The boy in the middle was born after his father died. Credit: Michelle Jasmin Dimasi
Esmatullah had been made aware of the defamation verdict, but appeared under the impression it was the result of a criminal trial, and that an Australian soldier had been sentenced to jail.
Upon learning the truth, he said he would prefer any alleged perpetrator be brought to Afghanistan to face trial, but would travel to Australia to testify.
"If they couldn't come [to Afghanistan], we can go there to the court and face them. We could take them to court according to their laws and human rights," he said.
The public version of the Brereton report, released publicly three years ago this week, found credible evidence Australian special forces had committed 39 murders in Afghanistan. It did not name Roberts-Smith. Source: AAP / Australian Department of Defence
"Do something about it based on your human rights. For years we are hearing stories on the news. Why does it take so long?" he asked.
What does the family say happened?
How Ahmadullah and Mohammed Essa behaved during the raids is a point of contention, with Roberts-Smith and other soldiers he called as witnesses claiming they were armed and killed during combat.
The family's account differs in some ways from those put forward by both Roberts-Smith's lawyers and lawyers representing the Nine newspapers.
Both sides in the defamation trial accepted that the pair were insurgents. The verdict hinged on whether they were detained when they were shot, making their killings a war crime.
An image submitted to the defamation trial showing the initial bombardment of the Whiskey 108 complex.
Not all family members referenced a tunnel at the compound, which both sides of the defamation case agreed was present. Lawyers for the Nine newspapers argued the pair were found hiding in the tunnel before they were killed.
But Esmatullah did talk about a "hole" in which some male and child family members hid during the raid.
Rabia and Malika said the pair were captured by the Australian soldiers. That claim was also made during the defamation trial by other soldiers present at Whisky 108, and the judge ultimately accepted that account as true.
"I was getting clothes for [Ahmadullah's] brother when the plane came and bombarded our house. Everything was ruined, there was dust. Also, they bombarded our house in the evening," Malika said.
Malika said tall, muscular soldiers with obscured faces entered the compound alongside a Pashto-speaking interpreter.
Rabia claimed some unidentified Australian soldiers also attempted to take Esmatullah - who was 10 at the time - after they entered the compound.
Ben Roberts-Smith arriving at the Federal Court to attend a day of his defamation trial. Source: AP / Rick Rycroft
"He was screaming and crying. My daughter also attacked them to release her brother. Finally, we released him."
Esmatullah recalled being extremely frightened when he was momentarily seized.
Both Rabia and Malika said that, after eventually allowing the boy to remain with his mother and sister-in-law, the Australians took the family out of the compound through a hole they had blown in the wall.
Ahmadullah and Mohammed Essa were left behind, they said.
"I asked them: 'What did you do to my husband and father-in-law?' They said that [they] imprisoned them," Malika recounted.
Roberts-Smith sued Nine newspaper journalists Nick McKenzie (right) and Chris Masters over their coverage of him. He was found, on the balance of probabilities, to have committed multiple murders. He is appealing the verdict. Source: AAP / Dan Himbrechts
Afraid of returning to Whiskey 108, they instead spent the evening at a relative's house.
"In the morning, we were still hesitant ... But eventually we came [back], and we found our house completely flattened," Malika said.
Significant damage to the Whiskey 108 compound was corroborated during the defamation trial, but it did not cover any bombing as Australian troops left the area. The full patrol report on the mission was not released publicly, so details are scant.
But a separate article in an infantry magazine, written by an Australian involved in the raid, does refer to a second airstrike at roughly 11pm that evening.
They said the damage meant it took days to discover the bodies under the rubble. When Ahmadullah was dragged out, his prosthetic leg was missing.
