New Zealand leader rejects probe into special forces in Afghanistan

May 2, 2011, 7:44 GMT

Wellington - Prime Minister John Key rejected Monday opposition calls for an inquiry into claims that New Zealand special forces have breached international conventions governing the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan.

Two opposition parties claimed that 'serious allegations' about the activities of the 83-strong Special Air Service (SAS) in Kabul cast a shadow over the former head of the armed forces, Jerry Mateparae, who has been named to take over as governor-general of New Zealand in September.

The Labour Party and the Greens in Parliament called for an independent inquiry into claims by war correspondent Jon Stephenson in the May issue of Metro magazine that Mateparae had covered up activities forbidden under international law.

Stephenson said that New Zealand troops had arrested prisoners and handed them over into the custody of US and Afghan forces who mistreated and in some cases tortured them.

He said the Geneva Conventions prohibited transferring prisoners to others likely to torture or mistreat them. Citing the notorious US-run prison Abu Ghraib, in Iraq, Stephenson quoted one SAS trooper as saying, 'We sort of knew what would happen to the prisoners, Americans being Americans.'

Mateparae's successor as chief of the country's Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Rhys Jones, denied that there had been a cover up or lies told concerning the treatment of detainees.

New Zealand's SAS 'have an excellent reputation in Afghanistan and across the world for their assiduous attention to human rights,' he said. 'They are consistently respectful of the rule of law in Afghanistan.'

Key told reporters that Stephenson was not a credible source and he accepted the Defence Department's denials. 'The Defence Department has got no reason to mislead either me or the New Zealand public,' he told his weekly news conference.

'There won't be an inquiry unless I can see some evidence that would suggest it's warranted.'

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