Australia’s Governor-General David Hurley was formerly a General in Australia’s Army and he was Chief of the Defence Force from the 4th of July 2011 to June 2014. I wrote about his lack of credibility regarding the war crimes cover-up only a few days ago but further evidence has come to hand which starts to build a powerful prima facia case that he has knowingly covered-up war crimes in Afghanistan.
Timeline of allegations against Governor-General David Hurley:
2011 to 2014: Chief of the Defence Force when most of the alleged war crimes took place. Claims he saw nothing and heard nothing about alleged war crimes.
2012: I accused David Hurley of a cover-up back in 2011/2012 of the ADF sex tape scandal which I detailed in the last article titled “How can Governor-General Hurley be believed about the war crimes given he tried to cover-up the ADF sex tape scandal?”. (Click here to read)
The Guardian reported in an article titled “Australian special forces soldiers incensed at war crimes inquiry clearing commanders of blame”:
April 2013: “directive issued from then “chief of the defence force, the chief of joint operations and the head of Joint Task Force 633” stressing Australian soldiers must have a high degree of confidence that a targeted person is directly participating in hostilities.”
“An ADF member is exposed to criminal and disciplinary liability, including potentially the war crime of murder … for opening fire on a person when there is a substantial risk that the person is not DPH (direct participant in hostilities),” Gen David Hurley, then the CDF, wrote.
The ABC reported that the directive was prompted after an inquiry officer raised concerns about the way rules of engagement were being applied to identify individuals taking part in hostilities. It followed the shooting of two men in a village who local residents claimed were civilians and unarmed.
Hurley told Guardian Australia he did not know about the incidents at the time he issued the 2013 directive.
Defence only started probing allegations of war crimes in 2015, two years after Australia special forces had withdrawn from Uruzgan, a province of Afghanistan. The first inquiries involved commanders commissioning a study that uncovered some of the allegations.
The following year based on the results of the study, the then chief of the army, Gen Angus Campbell, requested the inspector general of the Australian defence force (IGADF) inquire into concerns about special operations that included “unsubstantiated stories” of illegal killings and inhumane and unlawful treatment of detainees over a lengthy period of time.
The IGADF then appointed NSW supreme court judge and reserve Maj Gen Paul Brereton to conduct the inquiry, which was released this week and found 23 incidents where there was credible evidence of unlawful killing of 39 people by 25 Australian special forces personnel, predominantly from the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). (Click here to read more)
Brereton in his report laid the blame for the war comes at a low level of the command chain and said “With respect to high command: “That responsibility and accountability does not extend to higher headquarters,”.
It is just not believable that General David Hurley in his time as Chief of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014 had no idea about the alleged war crimes. Why is it in 2015 only a year after he left the army that they uncovered war crimes?
David Hurley is also getting called out on social media as per the below photo on Twitter.
Whistleblower David McBride also questions what David Hurley did and didn’t know.
The below video was published (2/12/20) on YouTube by war crimes whistleblower David McBride and is titled “Who really knew? The Commanding Officers, or the Generals?” He mentions David Hurley and what he did and didn’t know.
Others have also alleged David Hurley has been involved in cover-ups in the defence force as Senator Jacqui Lambie did in 2015.
2015: The New Daily reported:
Then independent senator Jacqui Lambie accused then Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Mr Hurley of “covering up” or “turning a blind eye” to rape and abuse in the defence force.
“Those crimes were covered up or turned a blind eye to by those in the highest leadership positions in Australia, including our national governor-general and our NSW governor,” she said.
Mr Hurley had publicly apologised to defence force personnel who suffered abuse. (Click here to read more)
Would someone who covered up rape also cover-up war crimes?
The list of alleged cover-ups by David Hurley in his time as Chief of the Defence Force is getting longer by the day and it suggests that he did cover-up war crimes which are the most serious of the alleged cover-ups.
I believe there is a powerful prima facie case to charge Governor-General David Hurley with concealing a serious indictable offence, at the very least, which are the alleged war crimes. I think the case against Governor-General David Hurley will continue to grow stronger by the day but his position as Governor-General is blatantly untenable and he should resign immediately.
Please use Twitter, Facebook, email and the other buttons below and help promote this article.
Kangaroo Court of Australia is an independent website and is reliant on donations to keep publishing so please click on the Patreon button below and support independent journalism.
If you would like to support via PayPal use the button below or for other donation options click here to go to the Donations page.
Thank you for your support.
For the KCA t-shirt shop click here.
Perfectly fits the mould as being suitable for a LNP led Government, first failure thanks to the lying rodent Howard was dud GG Man of the cloth who covered up for pedos Hollingsworth then folliwed by Cosgrove then Hurley, at least the LNP are consistent when they put their mates in these positions…
Look back to the 1960s.the liberals always were obsessed with sending troops away…
Correct James, Australia had not been requested or consulted by the South Vietnam government, nor our supposed American ally.
Typical political disdain demonstrated by that era’s Liberal mob, one has to realize they cared not for the consequences.
Thank you, Toby, you have summed up the facts in an adequate manner per your comment.
My own research on the internet. The internet frequently provides access to all kinds of matters involving Australia’s diplomatic officials, Foreign Affairs ministers, and including former Prime Ministers… in the ilk John Winston Howard.
Howard should not be accorded any respect given the number of treacheries and treasons he had engaged in.
Now we learn of the strong allegations relating to another Liberal/National party government senior appointee.
The Liberals going back many years have shown themselves to be guilty of choosing persons that have a dubious track record concerning their fidelity, that defies their elevation to a prominent role in the affairs of Australia.
I don’t believe for one minute that Labor never has been involved in coverups and putting their people into positions of power,when the blinkers are removed from ones eyes one see that they ALL do it Bryce and Kaiser are classic examples there for Labor, they all are scum and none of the political parties are worth a tinkers damn,it’s the same horse same agenda the race is rigged only the jockies change for the same end results
EXACTLY. Indeed, there can be no significant difference between the left and the right wings as they are both part of the same bird. It is the malformed and mutated bird that we desperately need to shoot down rather than one or other of the criminal factions. The powers that be would have us believe that a few band-aids will fix everything, however the malaise is universal. Quite frankly, nothing short of a revolution will sort the wheat from the chaff.
These people are blinded by the purported scrupulous reputations of the institutions they serve. Never mind the truth, the fallacy must be maintained at all costs. Akin to the Catholic Bishops being more concerned about the church’s reputation then the children they destroyed. Sad to say but Brereton is just another example of giving the appearance of independence… nonsense … he is part of the clique; the deals will already be agreed, sadly a lot of young soldiers lives will be destroyed while the elites go on to achieve high positions beyond their IQ’s. Sad.
Unfortunately….what you write appears to be the truth, whilst we suffer the lies and propaganda pushed onto us by the likes of 7Media (Stokes) 9Media (Costello) and Murdoch, the masses believe what is published, Australia has become one of the most corrupted countries in the world…apathy rules supreme…
Article 28 Responsibility of commanders and other superiors In addition to other grounds of criminal responsibility under this Statute for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court:
(a) A military commander or person effectively acting as a military commander shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by forces under his or her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such forces, where:
(i) That military commander or person either knew or, owing to the circumstances at
the time, should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit such
crimes; and
(ii) That military commander or person failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
(b) With respect to superior and subordinate relationships not described in paragraph (a), a superior shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by subordinates under his or her effective authority and control, as a result of his or her failure to exercise control properly over such subordinates, where:
(i) The superior either knew, or consciously disregarded information which clearly indicated, that the subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;
(ii) The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective responsibility and control of the superior; and
(iii) The superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
you will need to prove this and especially 28 b iii
There has been a grave failure to follow the principles of Leadership101 at many levels