Capt. Robert Semrau Charged With Murder in Afghanistan

[Good2Golf]

No.  As I understand things, any similar laws and sets of laws can be used as precedent.

Agree.  Similar findings from other militaries is part of the body of customary law, the less formal portion of International Laws that, in concert with Conventions, Agreements, etc..., on the whole form the body of the Law of Armed Conflict.

Regards
G2G

 

[observor 69]

I still want to know the Name and Rank of the CF "Leader" that told Capt Semrau to abandon the Taliban without care.

  I mean if we are kicking now 2Lt. Semrau out, should be at least not follow the chain of command to the heart of potentially unlawful and immoral orders.

I too would like to know more detail on the chain of events. I think there was some reference in the past to Semrau speaking to his chain of command.

 

[Old Sweat]

I could be speaking out of my hat, but I seem to recall that his OMLT was working with an Afghan company and he asked the company commander to request medical evacuation. The Afghan officer refused and the sub-unit prepared to move on, leaving the mortally wounded man to his fate.

Let me do some looking, but this information came out very early in the process.

Edit: Still looking, however there were reports that Afghan soldiers mistreated the insurgent for several minutes prior ro abandoning him.

 

[GAP]

I could be speaking out of my hat, but I seem to recall that his OMLT was working with an Afghan company and he asked the company commander to request medical evacuation. The Afghan officer refused and the sub-unit prepared to move on, leaving the mortally wounded man to his fate.

Let me do some looking, but this information came out very early in the process.

Edit: Still looking, however there were reports that Afghan soldiers mistreated the insurgent for several minutes prior ro abandoning him.

That information WAS in the early reports by the media, then just seemed to disappear...

 

[KevinB]

Major Steve Nolan was Capt. Semrau's OC, and depending upon report either told the Capt to leave him, or to MedEvac him...

 

[Gunner98]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/semrau-admitted-it-was-me-court-martial-hears/article1549965/

Cpl. Fournier had already told the court martial that a captain with the ANA had ordered that the insurgent not be treated and be left behind. The man was covered in a blanket but his eyes were fluttering, he was groaning and would occasionally role from his side to his back, then return, Cpl. Fournier testified.

Even after hearing the shots and seeing Capt.Semrau poised over the insurgent, Cpl. Fournier said he still didn't quite grasp what had taken place.

As they walked away from the body, he testified, Capt.Semrau made it perfectly clear. Cpl. Fournier testified that Capt.Semrau told him that he “felt it was necessary.”

“He felt it was the humane thing to do, he couldn't live with himself if he left an injured insurgent, an injured human, behind,” and then described the act as a “mercy killing.”

From http://www2.macleans.ca/2010/04/21/mercy-or-murder-or-neither/

Semrau’s lawyer spent the day trying to exploit other potential holes in the government’s case. He suggested that because the OMLT members were attached to an Afghan company—and not in charge of it—they had no authority to overrule a local commander’s decision (including a decision to not offer medical treatment to a dying man). Court has already heard that one ANA commander saw the injured insurgent, declared that his fate was “in Allah’s hands,” and ordered his troops to keep moving.

 

[Redeye]

Where precedents are not available in a judge's own country, it isn't uncommon for them to look at jurisprudence of others as a reference, though they aren't bound to the concept of stare decisis when doing so (which means you hold to what the precedent says), at least that's my amateurish memory of law classes.

Didn't see this already posted, but here's the PDF of the sentencing report.

http://www.jmc-cmj.forces.gc.ca/dec/2010/doc/2010cm4010-eng.pdf

One interesting thing I found is that the judge used American Military court martial results as part of his rationale behind the sentencing.... shouldn't he only be looking at Canadian cases and precedent?

 

[GAP]

No appeal for soldier convicted of shooting wounded Taliban fighter
By Andrew Duffy, Postmedia News January 1, 2011
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Canadian military will not appeal the sentence handed to former captain Robert Semrau in his unprecedented court martial.

Semrau, 36, was demoted and dismissed from the military in September after being convicted of disgraceful conduct for shooting a severely wounded Taliban fighter on an Afghan battlefield.

The military tribunal heard evidence suggesting the incident was an act of mercy intended to end the dying man’s suffering.

Military prosecutors had asked for a two-year jail tern, but the judge in the case, Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron, rejected that recommendation and imposed a more lenient sentence.

The appellate counsel at the Canadian Military Prosecutions Service, Maj. Steven Richards, recently confirmed that the appeal period in the case has expired.

The military, he said, did not appeal Semrau’s acquittal on more serious charges — second-degree murder and attempted murder — or his sentence.

Semrau’s legal team also did not file a notice of appeal.

It means Semrau, a married father of two young children, will be able to move on with his life as a civilian two years after being the first Canadian officer arrested for a battlefield shooting.
More on link

 

[KevinB]

Which leds me to believe it may have been more of a joint submission that we thought, or neither side was happy with the result, but not unhappy enough to risk it being altered dramatically against their side on appeal.

 

[jollyjacktar]

At least he will be able to get on with whichever direction his life will take him without the fear of being run through the mill by the system once more.  Best of luck to him in the future.

 

[ballz]

No appeal for soldier convicted of shooting wounded Taliban fighter
By Andrew Duffy, Postmedia News January 1, 2011
Article Link

OTTAWA — The Canadian military will not appeal the sentence handed to former captain Robert Semrau in his unprecedented court martial.

Semrau, 36, was demoted and dismissed from the military in September after being convicted of disgraceful conduct for shooting a severely wounded Taliban fighter on an Afghan battlefield.

The military tribunal heard evidence suggesting the incident was an act of mercy intended to end the dying man’s suffering.

Military prosecutors had asked for a two-year jail tern, but the judge in the case, Lt.-Col. Jean-Guy Perron, rejected that recommendation and imposed a more lenient sentence.

The appellate counsel at the Canadian Military Prosecutions Service, Maj. Steven Richards, recently confirmed that the appeal period in the case has expired.

The military, he said, did not appeal Semrau’s acquittal on more serious charges — second-degree murder and attempted murder — or his sentence.

Semrau’s legal team also did not file a notice of appeal.

It means Semrau, a married father of two young children, will be able to move on with his life as a civilian two years after being the first Canadian officer arrested for a battlefield shooting.
More on link

Emphasis mine... I could be wrong but he was not convicted of shooting anybody, severly wounded or dead, no? That's why the murder charge did not stand?

This article makes it sound like he's guilty of murder.

 

[Gunner98]

From the sentencing transcript:
http://www.jmc-cmj.forces.gc.ca/dec/2010/doc/2010cm4010-eng.pdf

[4] You were found guilty of behaving in a disgraceful manner contrary to section 93 of the Code of Service Discipline, which is in the National Defence Act (NDA). The Code of Service Discipline promotes the need for good order, discipline, and high morale. The Criminal Code does not contain an offence similar to the one found at section 93 of the National Defence Act. The prosecution had to prove each of the essential elements of this offence beyond a reasonable doubt before the panel could find you guilty of this offence. The elements of that offence are:
a. your identity as the alleged offender;
b. the date and place of the commission of the offence;
c. that you had shot an unarmed and wounded unnamed male person while acting as the Commander of call sign 72A Operational Mentoring Liaison Team;
d. that such act constitutes disgraceful behaviour; and
e. your blameworthy state of mind at the time of the commission of the offence.

 

[the 48th regulator]

http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/01/24/no-longer-reporting-for-duty/

No longer reporting for duty

Dismissed by the Canadian Forces, Robert Semrau begins the next stage of life—as a civilian
by Michael Friscolanti on Monday, January 24, 2011 9:20am - 0 Comments

His trial made headlines around the world—and sparked a fierce debate about mercy killing in a combat zone—but Robert Semrau’s final day in uniform passed without any publicity at all. He arrived at CFB Petawawa on Jan. 13, enjoyed a farewell lunch with fellow officers, and after many hugs and handshakes, left the base for the last time. As a civilian. “He certainly didn’t leave under a cloud of shame,” one soldier told Maclean’s. “Everyone wished him the best, and told him how tough it was to see him go.”

For Semrau and his family, tough doesn’t even begin to describe the past three years. In the summer of 2008, the Moose Jaw, Sask., native deployed to Kandahar as a respected infantry captain assigned to mentor Afghan troops as they hunted for Taliban. By December, he was on a plane back home, accused of putting a gravely injured insurgent out of his misery with two bullets to the chest.

Never before had a Canadian soldier been charged with battlefield murder, and when his court martial finally began in March 2010, Semrau was staring at a possible sentence of life behind bars. But his lawyers—knowing full well that compassion is not a legal excuse for murder—never conceded that their client committed a mercy kill. In fact, the defence offered no alternative version of events. They simply attacked the credibility of every Crown witness, hoping to plant the seeds of reasonable doubt.


The strategy worked, to an extent. In July, the jury found Semrau guilty of only one count: disgraceful conduct. The panel believed that he shot the unidentified enemy fighter, but with no corpse and no forensic evidence, they weren’t completely convinced that the man actually died. Semrau’s final punishment? Demotion to second lieutenant and dismissal from the Forces.

Justice Jean-Guy Perron handed down his sentence in October, but it took more than three months to process the paperwork. So Semrau—who, to this day, has never spoken publicly about his case—continued reporting for duty. “Obviously, it was a difficult situation, but he had a ton of support internally,” says Bill Semrau, his older brother. “He’s happy to finally have all this behind him. It’s time to move on to the next step.”

That next step, if all goes well, will be a career in the private security sector. “It’s unfortunate that Rob can’t continue to serve in the Canadian military, which is the life he loved,” Bill says. “But we are confident that he’ll be able to find something else, somewhere that will value his skills and what he can offer.”

Sadly, Semrau could have offered quite a lot later this summer, when Canadian troops pull out of Kandahar and begin training Afghan soldiers and police officers in Kabul. During his sentencing hearing, Maj. Cayle Obermayer, who fought with Semrau in Afghanistan, testified that he was “the best mentor he had worked with.” (Another infantryman, Pte. Joseph Villeneuve, recalled how Semrau saved his life during a deadly mortar attack in the volatile Panjwaii district.)

A dozen other soldiers wrote letters of support to the judge, praising Semrau’s “tremendous courage and moral fibre.” Recently released by the Department of National Defence, they paint a very clear picture of the kind of officer the army just lost. “I have always joked with friends that I would ‘follow Rob through the gates of hell,’ ” wrote one captain from the Royal Canadian Regiment. “Despite his recent conviction, I would absolutely still follow him into the field and strongly believe that all that know him would do the same.”

Maclean’s is part of the  Canadian Business Network

 

[vonGarvin]

By December, he was on a plane back home, accused of putting a gravely injured insurgent out of his misery with two bullets to the chest.

...


Sadly, Semrau could have offered quite a lot later this summer, when Canadian troops pull out of Kandahar and begin training Afghan soldiers and police officers in Kabul. During his sentencing hearing, Maj. Cayle Obermayer, who fought with Semrau in Afghanistan, testified that he was “the best mentor he had worked with.”

This article must be an editorial, no?  "Putting an insurgent out of his misery" and such adjectives as "Sadly".  I know Rob, and consider him a friend; however, he erred, and he's paying his dues.  Had he not acted disgracefully that day, he'd still be serving.

PS: I know the Major as well, and though yes he is of German Descent, his name isn't "Obermayer", it's "Oberwarth".  As seen on that documentary about 3 RCR's deployment overseas.