Lawyers for Kunduz Victims demand Compensation and Resumption of Investigation Proceedings
10 June 2010 Lawyers
representing the victims and their relatives of the 4 September 2009 air attack
near Kunduz (Afghanistan) - Karim Popal, Bernhard Docke, Dr. Reiner Geulen, Dr.
Remo Klinger and Wolfgang Kaleck announced their next concrete legal
steps at a press conference on 10 June 2010. Following the decision by the
Office of the Federal Prosecutor on 19 April 2010 to discontinue criminal
proceedings against Colonel Klein, attorney Wolfgang Kaleck called on the State
Prosecutor in Dresden to resume proceedings.
It is the State Prosecutor's office which is responsible for investigating potential offences under the German penal code which Colonel Klein may have committed during the air assault in Kundus. However, it is the Federal Attorney General's office in Karlsruhe which is solely responsible for investigating alleged crimes under international humanitarian law and alleged breaches of the law of armed conflict. Given that no motion against the cessation of the Federal Attorney General's investigations has been submitted, the State Prosecutor's office was the only responsible agency for investigation which remained open to the victims.
Accordingly, ECCHR has prepared and filed (with the State Prosecutor) a comprehensive document evaluating the potential for criminal liability in the Kundus case. This document outlines the various breaches of procedural law that the Federal Attorney General's office has committed with respect to their treatment of the victims' lawyers in the case - including restricting the right to access prosecution files and make relevant representations - as well as highlighting the deficiencies of the investigation as a whole. After reviewing the public available facts associated with the incident, ECCHR conclude that certain members of the German military should be held liable for prosecution for their role in the Kundus air assault.
The victims lawyers had previously issued a letter (on 20 May 2010) to the Ministry of Defense which substantiates their claims that the victims and their next of kin should be entitled to damages from the Federal Administration because the military action was disproportionate and therefore illegal. A first round of negotiations with the lawyers of the victims' families which took place in April 2010 was cancelled by the Ministry of Defense. As a result - and notwithstanding that a new date for negotiations has since been proposed - the victims' lawyers have accused the Federal Administration of failing to respect the victims' rights to legal representation.
It is the State Prosecutor's office which is responsible for investigating potential offences under the German penal code which Colonel Klein may have committed during the air assault in Kundus. However, it is the Federal Attorney General's office in Karlsruhe which is solely responsible for investigating alleged crimes under international humanitarian law and alleged breaches of the law of armed conflict. Given that no motion against the cessation of the Federal Attorney General's investigations has been submitted, the State Prosecutor's office was the only responsible agency for investigation which remained open to the victims.
Accordingly, ECCHR has prepared and filed (with the State Prosecutor) a comprehensive document evaluating the potential for criminal liability in the Kundus case. This document outlines the various breaches of procedural law that the Federal Attorney General's office has committed with respect to their treatment of the victims' lawyers in the case - including restricting the right to access prosecution files and make relevant representations - as well as highlighting the deficiencies of the investigation as a whole. After reviewing the public available facts associated with the incident, ECCHR conclude that certain members of the German military should be held liable for prosecution for their role in the Kundus air assault.
The victims lawyers had previously issued a letter (on 20 May 2010) to the Ministry of Defense which substantiates their claims that the victims and their next of kin should be entitled to damages from the Federal Administration because the military action was disproportionate and therefore illegal. A first round of negotiations with the lawyers of the victims' families which took place in April 2010 was cancelled by the Ministry of Defense. As a result - and notwithstanding that a new date for negotiations has since been proposed - the victims' lawyers have accused the Federal Administration of failing to respect the victims' rights to legal representation.