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Sexually abused children and families blame U.S. military for not stopping the horrific practice
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Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father he was bothered by what he had witnessed and heard in Afghanistan. In his last phone call to his father, Buckley Jr. told his father he heard Afghan police officers sexually abusing young boys brought to the base.
Shortly after their phone call, Buckley Jr. was shot by an alleged sex slave who killed two other officers, prompting Buckley Sr. to file a lawsuit against the military that claims sexual assault victims and their families see U.S. military officials as the enemy.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
9/22/2015 (9 years ago)
Published in Middle East
Keywords: military, US military, children, sexual abuse, US military forces
MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Before Buckley Jr. was shot at the base in 2012, he made a phone call to his father and told him about the sexual abuse. "At night we can hear them screaming, but we're not allowed to do anything about it," Buckley Jr. said.
Buckley Sr. claimed his son was told to look away because whatever is it that Afghani officials did was "part of their culture."
With the population being bullied by armed commanders, cases of sexual abuse are rampant in Afghanistan. According to court records and various interviews, the Marines and the US soldiers were told not to meddle with the practice of boy play, or "bacha bazi."
Nuckley Sr. told the New York Times, "As far as the young boys are concerned, the Marines are allowing it to happen and so they're guilty by association ... They don't know our Marines are sick to their stomachs."
Buckley Sr. accused the Marine Corps, the Navy, Department of Defense, and the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and former Marine Corps Commandant General James Amos, in his lawsuit, stating that they were hiding the truth behind his son's death.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest read the following statement after being asked if the Afghan militia's current policy had been reviewed and why the military was told to ignore the practice of sexual abuse:
"The United States works closely with the Afghan government, civil society, and international organizations in Afghanistan to put an end to the exploitation of children, but also to incorporate human rights training into our law enforcement programs to heighten awareness in prosecution of such crimes."
When Earnest was asked if the president would tell a military leader to intervene if he saw a sexual assault in progress, Earnest failed to provide a direct answer.
Meanwhile, American forces continue to help in the organization and recruitment of Afghan militias to help hold territory against the Taliban; but Marines and other American soldiers were disturbed when the American military armed and assigning Afghan militia members as village commanders instead of putting a stop to the underage sexual abuse.
Former Special Forces Captain Dan Quinn said, "The reason we were here is because we heard the terrible things the Taliban were doing to people, how they were taking away human rights." Quinn added that village elders told him the US Military was giving power to people who did things that far worse than what the Taliban did.
After beating an American-backed militia commander for chaining a boy to his bed and raping him several times, Quinn was discharged from the military.
Abdul Rahman, the officer who had chained the boy to his bed, had also allegedly beaten the boy's mother after she reported the sexual assault that took place on an American base.
Four years after Rahman's beating, Sgt. First Class Charles Martland was also forced to retire from the Army after it was discovered he helped Quinn beat the commander. Martland continues to fight for the right to remain a Green Beret.
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