Capt. Robert Semrau Charged With Murder in Afghanistan

[Fishbone Jones]

I fail to see how this is a contradiction ... it's a bleeping war zone. A couple of ambushes may indeed be considered by some to be a "calm day" on the battlefield.

:

The contradiction is not whether it was a 'very calm' day, patrol wise, but whether the terp heard any other shots that day.

 

[SeanNewman]

While I was not there and I am in no position to say what the conditions were temp/humidity/light-wise, I can say that I (like most people on here) have put thousands of rounds through a C7 and have not seen smoke pouring out of the end of the barrel of one after a single round.

I have seen steam coming off of hot barrels (particularly MG barrels) in the rain, and I have seen weapons fired downward that blasted up a dust cloud, but never the old-western style "smoking gun" so to speak.

 

[Gunner98]

Petamocto et al.

Like most of us here, I have not witnessed a C7 being fired from a foot or two away at the head of a prone, injured Taliban with both legs blown off shortly after watching him being pummeled by an Apache gun run?  I guess I would have to have been there and not sitting in my living room typing on a keyboard to understand the kind of 'calm' day that Max was experiencing! :-X

 

[GAP]

Insurgent was ’98 per cent dead,’ Afghan officer tells Semrau court martial
Article Link

Bill Graveland Kandahar,

Afghansistan — The Canadian Press Published on Tuesday, Jun. 22, 2010 9:32AM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 22, 2010 2:10PM EDT

An injured Taliban fighter who was allegedly executed by Captain Robert Semrau following a violent skirmish in Afghanistan in 2008 was so badly injured he was “98 per cent dead” when the final shots were fired, a veteran Afghan army officer told a court martial Tuesday.

Regardless of when or how the man died, the end result was a foregone conclusion, Captain Shafigullah — who, like many Afghans, goes by only one name — told the four-member panel that will decide Capt. Semrau's guilt or innocence on a charge of second-degree murder.

“I don't know if he was dead before or dead after (the shooting),” Capt. Shafigullah said through an interpreter. “There was no possibility for him to stay alive that day. He could die in five minutes, 10 minutes or a half-hour.”

The events leading up to the October 2008 incident began with a military operation in Taliban-infested Helmand province, which is just west of Kandahar, the province where the bulk of Canada's soldiers are stationed.

There were three units pushing through a region that was not under the Afghan government's control, Capt. Shafigullah recounted. The mission was to retake the area and flush out the enemy.

Afghan and Canadian forces suddenly found themselves in the midst of an ambush and began taking fire. Air support was called in, including a helicopter gunship that opened fire on the enemy's position. The Taliban fighter was blasted out of a tree.

“He was in serious condition,” Capt. Shafigullah said. “His legs were cut off, his belly torn off. He was hardly breathing. His body was not moving.”

“The intestines were coming out. From the middle down, everything was gone.”

Capt. Shafigullah ordered his men to prepare the man for death by covering him with a shawl and turning his face in the direction of Mecca, as is Islamic tradition.

As they prepared to leave, Capt. Semrau said he was going to go back to take some photos of the dying Taliban, he recalled.
More on link

 

[SeanNewman]

Not exactly sure how one can determine percentage of death.  Obviously it's not about the math and we understand what he means, but I think the medical world sees a person as alive or dead. 

Sometimes my newborn makes me feel 48% dead, though.

 

[vonGarvin]

Sometimes my newborn makes me feel 48% dead, though.

"Hold on everyone, I'm just going to go take a picture of Petamocto.  You may not want to see this."

Now, in all seriousness, irrespective if a person was going to die in five seconds or five years, if you do anything to cause a person to die, I'm fairly confident that the law still considers you culpable.  I'm just glad I'm not on the jury, and I'm also glad that I didn't face the same situation that Capt Semrau did on that day back in 2008. 

 

[SeanNewman]

...and I'm also glad that I didn't face the same situation that Capt Semrau did on that day back in 2008.

You and 33 million other Canadians.

 

[vonGarvin]

You and 33 million other Canadians.

Exactly.  I mean, I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation. 

 

[kincanucks]

You and 33 million other Canadians.

Sorry but notwithstanding the members of the CF, 33 million other Canadians really don't give a rats ass one way or the other.

 

[SeanNewman]

...33 million other Canadians really don't give a rats *** one way or the other.

Wha?  Relax, my friend.

Nobody was commenting on Rob or Afghanistan, just that nobody would want to be put in the same position he was in.

 

[KnightShift]

Sorry but notwithstanding the members of the CF, 33 million other Canadians really don't give a rats *** one way or the other.

This one does.

 

[Redeye]

That's exactly what makes this whole case so complicated - I was trying to reason out how I felt about it.  If I had been the one standing there, I don't know what I would have done - and if I had been the poor bastard about to meet my maker after being nearly vaporized by a gunship, I certainly would want someone - even my sworn enemy - to end the suffering I'd surely be enduring.

I haven't ever met the man but I don't think that if the allegation of what happened is true that it was done out of malice, but rather out of the sort of strange compassion that happens in war.  I can imagine the thought process that might have led to the decision and certainly cannot say I wouldn't have gone through the same train of thought myself.

The law, however, is fairly clear on the matter.  We don't have the right to make that decision.  That's why the jury is going to have such a hard time I think to resolve it - I think all of them will feel a strong pull to find something, some tinge of reasonable doubt that allows them to acquit.

Exactly.  I mean, I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation.

 

[mariomike]

6 July, 2010:

"Ethics of war emerge in Semrau military trial: OTTAWA – Thousands of Canadian soldiers have cycled through Kandahar over the years with orders to kill and capture Taliban insurgents, their mortal military enemy.":
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/832698--ethics-of-war-emerge-in-semrau-military-trial?bn=1

 

[old medic]

Cpt. Semrau to hear closing arguments on home soil
By ALTHIA RAJ
06 July 2010

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/canada/2010/07/06/14629036.html

OTTAWA — A Canadian captain charged with murder on the battlefield is back from Afghanistan and will be in a military courtroom Wednesday to hear the closing arguments of his case.

Capt. Robert Semrau, 36, is accused of killing a wounded disarmed Taliban insurgent in October 2008.

The court martial’s five-member panel, which serves as a jury of his peers, travelled to Afghanistan in June to hear from two key witnesses, including an Afghan translator, code named “Max,” who was to testify he saw Semrau point his rifle at the insurgent and heard gunshots.

Semrau’s defence counsel has decided not to call any witnesses in Afghanistan, nor in Canada.

“The defence will not present any evidence. This is their choice. It is up to the prosecution to prove beyond doubt their case,” said Sub-Lieutenant Greg Menzies, the Public Affairs Officer tasked to the case.

This is believed to be the first case of murder against a Canadian soldier on the battlefield.

Although the prosecution presented grainy cell phone video showing the wounded victim, some witnesses were unsure the man was alive or dead, before and after, Semrau is alleged to have shot him.

No body was ever recovered.

Closing arguments are expected to take a few days.

 

[KevinB]

A somewhat similar case in the US Army.

Capt. Rogelio ''Roger'' Maynulet was found guilty of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison. Prosecutors had sought conviction on a more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which carried a 20-year maximum. Maynulet, 30, of Chicago, stood at attention as Lt. Col. Laurence Mixon, the head of the six-member panel, read the verdict at the court-martial. The court was to reconvene later today to consider Maynulet's sentence.

Mixon did not give reasons for the ruling, which followed 2? hours of deliberations.

In closing arguments earlier today, prosecutor Maj. John Rothwell said that Maynulet ''played God'' when he shot the wounded driver.

He argued that Maynulet, who was trained in first aid, should not have relied on a medic who said the man was beyond saving and told him ''there's nothing I can do.''

''Those five words were enough to make a life and death decision, and he chose to end a life,'' Rothwell said. ''This combat-trained life saver prescribed two bullets. He didn't call his superiors for guidance, didn't consult with his medic.''

Maynulet said at this week's court-martial that he shot the man to ''put him out of his misery.'' His lawyers have argued that his actions were in line with the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war.

His defense attorney, Capt. Will Helixon, argued that conflicting testimony from neurosurgeons about whether the Iraqi was still alive at the time of the shooting required that Maynulet be acquitted.

Maynulet's command was suspended May 25, but he has remained with the Wiesbaden-based unit.

 

[wildman0101]

Re: Capt. Robert Semrau Charged With Murder in Afghanistan
« Reply #351 on: June 22, 2010, 20:37:00 »Quote
Quote from: kincanucks on June 22, 2010, 20:13:02
Sorry but notwithstanding the members of the CF, 33 million other Canadians really don't give a rats *** one way or the other.

I do also.
Scoty B

 

[GAP]

A Star biography of Capt. Semrau....

A soldier’s code of honour
Published On Sat Jul 17 2010
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/836989--a-soldier-s-code-of-honour?bn=1
Allan Woods Ottawa Bureau

Even back when he was a boy in Moose Jaw, Sask., known simply as Robbie, Capt. Robert Semrau was guided by a code of honour.

First it was a deep-rooted Christian faith, instilled by his parents Jean and Don. Then it was his teenage devotion to ninjutsu, the martial art of the ninja.

That was followed by his rise through the ranks of two armies with their own strict legal and moral standards: first a stint with Britain’s famed Parachute Regiment, then as an officer at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa with the Royal Canadian Regiment’s 3rd battalion.

Along the way, Semrau, a 36-year-old married father of two girls, has literally carried the weak, provided guidance and support to many, and given offence to few.

Scores of people across the world have crossed paths with Semrau, and many have been permanently touched by his generosity. They were horrified to learn a year and a half ago on New Year’s Eve 2008 that the boy, man and soldier they knew had been charged with second-degree murder in the alleged mercy killing of an unarmed, mortally wounded Taliban fighter somewhere along a dusty path in Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Oct. 19, 2008.

“I saw the name, and his name is not a common name, so I said, ‘I might know that guy,’” recalled Tony Tardos.

“I read it and it turned out to be the guy I knew,” said Tardos, a Christian broadcaster from Nashville who bunked with Semrau for from September 1991 to March 1992 at the Bodenseehof Torchbearer Bible School in southern Germany.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

It may not, rightly or wrongly, speak to specific facts of the case. However, I think it is definitely a compelling testimony when speaking to the character of the accused and trying to figure his mindset at the time.

 

[Journeyman]

What is amazing is the Red Star posting something positive about any soldier.

 

[PuckChaser]

I'm curious as to the rationale of the defense not presenting any evidence or calling witnesses. Is the intent to show that the charges are so far fetched they don't need to defend against them?