BRUSSELS, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Jamie Doran, the director of an explosive new television documentary alleging that U.S. troops failed to stop a massacre of thousands of Taliban prisoners by Afghan militiamen allied to the United States, is a man under siege.
His phone has not stopped ringing since a Newsweek cover story last week echoed the award-winning filmmaker's claims that U.S. troops turned a blind eye while Northern Alliance fighters massacred as many as 3,000 Taliban last November.
The British-born director told United Press International Thursday that Newsweek's own investigation contained "less than half the full story" and failed to acknowledge what Doran says was its debt to his documentary. Still the newsmagazine did him a service by "confirming the facts we already knew" and by "bringing the issue to the attention of American policy-makers."
The grim story was first revealed in detail and reported by UPI in June, when Doran's film was screened for European Union parliamentarians in the European Parliament.
"At the time, U.S. officials were denying any large scale killings had taken place and said American troops were nowhere near the site of the massacre," says the filmmaker.
Pentagon officials told UPI in June and still insist that U.S. soldiers were not aware of the alleged deaths. They had interviewed members of U.S. Special Forces teams in the area at the time as well as reviewed their reports, and found no evidence of knowledge, let alone wrongdoing, by American troops, they said.
In follow-up questions Monday, Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told reporters that Special Forces who go on operations are expected to report any abuses they observe and to intervene to stop them. But Pace said a review of the incident produced "zero reported cases of human rights violations by the teams that we had on the ground."
But "Massacre at Mazar," which is due to be broadcast in many countries in October, alleges that American troops failed to prevent the massacre. The Islamic fighters had surrendered to the U.S.-backed Northern Alliance after the Nov. 21 fall of the Taliban's last stronghold of Konduz.
Following an aborted uprising at Mazar-i-Sharif, 7,500 prisoners were taken to a crowded jail in Sheberghan where, according to Afghans interviewed for the film, they were tortured by U.S. Special Forces. After interrogation, thousands of Taliban fighters were stuffed into container trucks, and driven to the Dasht Leili desert. Hundreds suffocated on the way, and the rest were shot by Northern Alliance gunmen in the presence of U.S. troops, and then buried in mass graves, the film charges.
Doran said he was "surprised by the extent of world interest in the film but disappointed at the reaction of the United States and Britain -- the two countries most involved in the conflict."
The film quotes Afghan witnesses claiming to have seen U.S. troops torturing the Taliban prisoners. Doran denied reports that the witnesses had anything to gain by making their claims.
"The witnesses had no reason to come forward -- indeed one even admitted to killing people on tape. They received no money and put themselves in immense danger by taking part and I think that lends greater credibility to the film," says Doran.
The filmmaker also said the Pentagon told journalists he was a communist and that the film was actually shot in neighboring Pakistan.
"It's the usual flak you pick up when you break a story that isn't liked," he shrugs.
Pace said he understood the Afghan government planned to conduct its own investigation. But Doran says that though Kabul is under pressure to look into the alleged atrocities, the government "does not have the time or money to carry out the type of investigation that is needed."
Instead, the London-based filmmaker, who worked for the British Broadcasting Corp. for seven years before setting up his own production company, believes an independent U.N. enquiry is the only way to establish the truth. Last May a visit to the scene by a U.N. forensic team turned up indications of mass graves in the area.
Doran's skepticism about the capacity of the Afghan government is shared by human rights experts.
"The crucial need is for a credible investigation by experienced and competent forensic scientists," Leonard Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights, told United Press International in Washington earlier this month.
"We believe that a full investigation of this complexity is currently beyond the capacity of the Afghan government and needs the leadership and the mandate of the United Nations," he added.
"The United States is particularly keen to deflect interest away from the role of its soldiers onto the Afghanis. But if U.S. troops are genuinely innocent, they have nothing to fear from such an investigation," he says.
Doran describes previous Pentagon denials, such as those obtained by UPI in June, as "frankly ridiculous."
"It is beyond doubt that a number of American soldiers were at Sheberghan Prison," he says. "Either they walked around blindfolded with ear-muffs for eight days or they saw what was going on."
Doran told UPI that the documentary, which has already been sold to broadcasters in 15 countries, contained a "lot more evidence" than the rough-cut viewed by Euro-parliamentarians in June.
