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AFGHAN MASSACRE: THE CONVOY OF DEATH
by dj
Tuesday, Sep. 23, 2003 at 5:12 PM
AFGHAN MASSACRE: THE CONVOY OF DEATH
DEMOCRACY NOW! PREMIERES CONTROVERSIAL FILM ALLEGING U.S. COMPLICITY IN AFGHANISTAN MASSACRE
�Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death� was Broadcast Simultaneously on over 140 Radio and Cable Public Access Stations, Satellite TV and the Internet Marking Its First U.S. Showing
Film Documents Alleged Massacre of 3,000 Taliban Prisoners in Afghanistan
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On Friday, May 23rd, the nationwide, public radio and television show Democracy Now! premiered Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death, a controversial documentary film alleging U.S. military involvement in a massacre of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan. The film, never before shown in the U.S., aired during the Friday broadcast of Democracy Now!, at 9 a.m. EST. Afghan Massacre: the Convoy of Death has been broadcast on national television in Britain, Germany, Italy and Australia and has been screened by the European parliament.
Produced and directed by Irish filmmaker and former BBC producer Jamie Doran, the film tells the story of thousands of prisoners who surrendered to the US military�s Afghan allies after the siege of Kunduz. According to the film, some three thousand of the prisoners were forced into sealed containers and loaded onto trucks for transport to Sheberghan prison. When the prisoners began shouting for air, U.S.-allied Afghan soldiers fired directly into the truck, killing many of them. The rest suffered through an appalling road trip lasting up to four days, so thirsty they clawed at the skin of their fellow prisoners as they licked perspiration and even drank blood from open wounds.
Witnesses say that when the trucks arrived and soldiers opened the containers, most of the people inside were dead. They also say US Special Forces re-directed the containers carrying the living and dead into the desert and stood by as survivors were shot and buried. Now, up to three thousand bodies lie buried in a mass grave.
Outraged human rights groups and lawyers are calling for an investigation but the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan refuses any U.N.-backed investigation until the Afghan government can protect witnesses. Two of the witnesses in the film have already been killed.
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Archived Democracy Now! coverage:
May 26, 2003 �Afghan Massacre: The Convoy of Death,� Part 2: Award-Winning Director/Producer Jamie Doran Alleges a Media Cover-Up of US Complicity in the Massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban Prisoners Jamie Doran says of State Department official Larry Schwartz, �Larry said and I quote directly, �You have to understand, we�re involved, we�re in touch with the national [newspapers] on a daily basis � this story won�t run, even if it�s true.�� And television industry insiders told Doran, �not now Jamie.�
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http://www.democracynow.org/afghanfilm.shtml
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