Afghan Mass Grave Crisis

In November 2001, as many as 2,000 Taliban prisoners are believed to have been killed in container trucks by US-allied Afghan troops and buried in a mass grave in Dasht-e Leili, Afghanistan. These Afghan troops were operating jointly with U.S. military forces, who were allegedly present at the scene of the crime. Physicians for Human Rights investigators discovered the mass grave in 2002, and for 7 years, it has advocated for a thorough investigation into these deaths. Now, new evidence has come to light revealing repeated efforts by the Bush administration to impede an investigation into this widely reported massacre. This presentation will provide the story behind the discovery of the grave, the U.S. “cover-up,” the uses of science and medicine to uncover the truth, and the continued struggle for accountability for past crimes. Questions about the roles of the media, U.S. and Afghan policies of coddling “war lords,” and the public response to atrocities will be raised.