$5,000 Dollars - The Price of a Life (£3,150 or 3800 Euros)

 

is it an insult ?

Is it better than nothing ?

Is it more than all the other victims received in the almost daily killings of innocents ?

Is it an admission of guilt ?

 

 

Germany to Pay $5,000 Each for Civilians Killed in Kunduz Attack

Jason Ditz

August 6, 2010

Military Won't Admit Guilt and Insists Payment Is Voluntary

After several months of negotiations, the German government has finally come to terms with a compensation deal that most of the families of the 102 civilians killed in a September 2009 Kunduz air strike appear to be satisfied with.

Under the deal the German military will pay $5,000 each, or a total of about half a million dollars, to he families of the victims. They emphasize, however, that the payment is not an acknowledgment of guilt for the killings, but was purely voluntary.

In early September, a German colonel ordered a US air strike against a pair of hijacked and immobilized fuel tankers, claiming they were a "threat." They also assured the US war plane that no civilians were anywhere near the site. The US attack led to a fireball that killed a massive number of civilians, who were said to be siphoning fuel out of the tanks at the time.

The attack and the failed cover-up of Bundeswehr culpability was something of an eye opener for Germany, as the government had heretofore denied that there was even a war going on in Afghanistan, let alone one where German forces were getting large numbers of civilians killed. The resulting politcal turmoil led to the resignation of a number of key German military and governmental officials.

While some of the victims’ families were pleased to see at least something happen nearly a year after the killings, a number of lawyers expressed annoyance that the Bundeswehr declared the situation outside of the negotiations and reportedly went behind their back in testing the waters for the deal. Since no culpability was admitted, some say they expect clients will want to continue with legal action over the killings

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10891695

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100805-28981.html

Afghan politician calls German air strike payouts 'laughable'

The former Afghan Commerce Minister on Friday called Germany’s compensation for families of victims who died in last year’s deadly Kunduz air strike “laughable,” saying that the $5,000 was insignificant.

Former Commerce Minister Amin Farhang said that $5,000 - equivalent to about 20,000 Afghanis, the local currency - was not very much money in Afghanistan.

Farhang said he’d discussed the payments with other Afghan officials, “and many were disappointed here in Kabul.”

On September 4, 2009, German Col. Georg Klein ordered US aircraft to fire on two petrol tankers hijacked by the Taliban. Although the trucks were stuck in a dry river bed, Klein deemed them to be a threat to the nearby German camp.

After initially claiming only Taliban fighters were killed, the German government later admitted scores of civilians were also killed. After an investigation in which the Bundeswehr co-operated with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, it was concluded that 91 civilians were killed and 11 seriously injured.

On Friday the Defence Ministry insisted the payments to be made this month were not Germany’s legal obligation but a “support payment” to help relatives of those killed or injured.

Farhang said he was also disappointed that Germany had refused to refer to the money as reparations.

“I’m not talking here about guilt or innocence here. But people were killed. And the Afghan blood should not be traded so cheaply,” he said.

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100806-28991.html