The military sociologist whose work triggered the explosive Brereton war crimes inquiry says a campaign of vitriol against her in recent weeks has been “awful” and is taking a toll on her personally.
Dr Samantha Crompvoets has faced a torrent of abuse and criticism, including appalling comments made by members of a veterans’ Facebook group and articles in the Daily Telegraph suggesting she was “cashing in” and reaping “personal gain” by publishing a book about the issue.
The book, titled Blood Lust, Trust & Blame, is now under a cloud of uncertainty after her publisher Monash University Publishing received a legal letter from the Australian Government Solicitor.
Meanwhile the defence minister, Peter Dutton, has declared he does not want further contracts for “cultural change”, the type of work Crompvoets conducts, handed out by the department.
In an interview with the Guardian, Crompvoets said she was struggling to comprehend what had motivated the sudden groundswell of opposition.
“Attempts to discredit me will not undo allegations of wrongdoing by special forces soldiers,” she said.
In an address to an Australian Strategic Policy Institute conference on Friday, Crompvoets said she would not be “bullied or intimidated”. She also lamented the “unhelpful” politicisation of the issue.
She also told the Guardian that recent weeks had taken a toll on her and said she was struggling to work out the “appropriate way of standing up for myself and standing up on behalf of all the people who came forward and spoke to me about these allegations of war crimes”.
“It’s having a big impact on me. It’s awful. But I’m not sure what the motivation is,” she said.
“The attacks on me seem misplaced. Instead people should be upset about possible war crimes, not with the person who raised the issues.”
She said there was nothing in her book that was not already in the public domain. The defence hierarchy had already placed its faith in her ability to handle sensitive material, through her early work prior to the Brereton inquiry.
She has worked with defence on cultural issues for more than a decade.
Crompvoets says she will not profit from her book.
“It’s just factually incorrect. I’m not making any money. And it was never about making money, it is about helping people to make sense of the allegations,” she said.
Dutton has overturned a number of key decisions related to the war crimes inquiry since inheriting the portfolio. He reversed a decision to strip the meritorious unit citation from those who served in Afghanistan as a result of the shocking, widespread problems that allowed the alleged war crimes to occur and be concealed.
The Brereton inquiry had recommended such a course after finding “credible” evidence to implicate 25 current or former ADF personnel in the alleged unlawful killing of 39 individuals and the cruel treatment of two others.
Those allegations are now being considered by the new office of the special investigator, which is considering the evidence ahead of potential prosecutions.
Dutton addressed the same Aspi conference on Thursday, saying that his government was “not going to be mired” in the Brereton inquiry.
“I don’t want us to forget the lessons of Brereton, but equally we’re not going to be mired in it,” he said.
