Inquiry into Operation Burnham
In April 2018 the New Zealand Government announced that an inquiry into Operation Burnham and related matters would be held.
Operation Burnham was undertaken in Afghanistan by NZSAS troops and other nations’ forces operating as part of the International Security Assistance Force in 2010.
In 2017 the book Hit & Run was published which contained a number of serious allegations against New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel.
The Inquiry has sought to establish the facts in connection with the allegations, examine the treatment by NZDF of reports of civilian casualties following the operation, and assess the conduct of NZDF forces.
In common with all inquiries established under the Inquiries Act 2013, this Inquiry has no power to determine the civil, criminal, or disciplinary liability of any person, or award reparations. However it may, if justified, make findings of fault and recommend further steps be taken to determine liability.
The Inquiry reported back to the Attorney-General on 17 July 2020. The Government has authorised the release of the report which is now published on the Inquiry website.
RNZ: Operation Burnham: Child killed, but death was justified, inquiry finds
A civilian child was killed during Operation Burnham in 2010, but an inquiry has found their death was justified under international law.
Four others were killed, but the government inquiry could not determine if they were civilians or insurgents.
The Burnham Inquiry, led by Sir Terence Arnold and Sir Geoffrey Palmer, has also found New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) officials did not plot to cover-up the casualties, as claimed in the book Hit and Run by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson.
It did, however, find the Defence Force never corrected claims made to the public and ministers by its personnel that allegations of civilian casualties were “unfounded”, despite knowing it was possible.
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has also released its report, which found New Zealand’s intelligence agencies could have done more to help set the record straight.
Read the summary of the findings and recommendations from chapter 1. [PDF, 332 KB]
Read PDF chapters of the report through the following links:
- Foreword [PDF, 127 KB]
- Contents [PDF, 25 KB]
- Chapter 1 – Overview of Inquiry and findings [PDF, 410 KB]
- Chapter 2 – The deployment of the NZSAS to Afghanistan: political and constitutional dimensions [PDF, 488 KB]
- Chapter 3 – Operations Burnham and Nova: origin and planning [PDF, 4.9 MB]
- Chapter 4 – What happened on Operations Burnham and Nova? [PDF, 3.3 MB]
- Figure 4 – Key locations in Tirgiran Valley (Map) (external link)
- Chapter 5 – Operations Burnham and Nova: casualties and property damage [PDF, 456 KB]
- Chapter 6 – Assessment of conduct during Operation Burnham [PDF, 444 KB]
- Chapter 7 – Predetermined and offensive use of lethal force [PDF, 320 KB]
- Chapter 8 – A cover-up? An account of what happened [PDF, 446 KB]
- Chapter 9 – A cover-up? Our assessment [PDF, 475 KB]
- Chapter 10 – Operation Yamaha: detention policy and the law [PDF, 377 KB]
- Chapter 11 – Operation Yamaha: description and assessment [PDF, 495 KB]
- Chapter 12 – Looking to the future [PDF, 421 KB]
- Appendix 1 – Terms of Reference: Government Inquiry into Operation Burnham and related matters [PDF, 201 KB]
- Appendix 2 – List of common acronyms [PDF, 30 KB]
- Contributors [PDF, 30 KB]