Charles Martland who was discharged for shoving 'Afghan child rapist' speaks out

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Sergeant Charles Martland shoved an Afghan police commander accused of keeping a 12-year-old boy as a sex slave
Child was 'tied to a post raped repeatedly for between 10 days to two weeks' soldier claims he was told
Martland and team leader Daniel Quinn 'body slammed' and 'threw' police commander Abdul Rahman during confrontation
The 11-year Green Beret was ordered discharged from the Army by November 1 but appealed the decision
U.S Army Human Resources Command told Martland this week that his case does not meet the criteria for an appeal
Martland has now hit out at the decision to discharge him and his team leader calling it 'morally wrong'

By Hannah Parry For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:27 EST, 28 September 2015 | Updated: 19:12 EST, 28 September 2015

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Sergeant 1st Class Charles Martland has been ordered to leave the U.S. military by November 1

A decorated soldier who was kicked out the special forces after confronting an Afghan police commander for allegedly raped a young boy has spoken out.

Sergeant 1st Class Charles Martland, 33, from Massachusetts, said the decision to discharge him was 'morally wrong' after his appeal was rejected last week.

Martland, was serving in the country's war-torn Kunduz Province in 2011 when he learned an Afghan police commander he had trained had allegedly kept 12-year-old boy as a sex slave.

The soldier and his team leader, Daniel Quinn, said they received reports the officer had abused the child who was 'tied to a post in Rahman's house and was raped repeatedly for 10 days to 2 weeks,' Fox News reported.

Martland and Quinn had confronted police commander Abdul Rahman - who had also allegedly beaten the 12-year-old's mother for reporting the sexual assault - and 'shoved him to the ground'.

But, while Rahman was said to have walked away with a few bruises, the Green Berets were disciplined.

The Army reportedly halted their mission, put them in temporary jobs, and then, finally, sent them home.

In a public statement, requested by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif and shared with F ox News , Martland said: 'Kicking me out of the Army is morally wrong and the entire country knows it.'

The Green Beret admits shoving the man he says was a 'brutal child rapist' but claimed that the local police commander was committing such terrible 'atrocities' it was likely to turn the Afghan people against them - putting U.S. forces at greater risk of attack.

'While I understand that a military lawyer can say that I was legally wrong, we felt a moral obligation to act,' he said in his statement.

At the time of the incident, Martland was part of a team from JBLM's 1st Special Forces Group tasked with building a new local police force with the support of local Afghan tribal leaders.

This could mean working closely with leaders who previously had links to extremists groups to create Western allies on the ground - and in some cases, allegedly being forced to turn a blind eye to practices which breaches their moral code.

In his appeal letter to the Army Human Resources Command, Martland said the alleged rape was the third time he had been made aware that an Afghan police commander had done something morally repugnant, according to The New Tribune.

He claimed he knew of another police commander's rape of a teenage girl, while a different commander had allowed the honor killing of a 12-year-old girl after she kissed a boy.

Martland wrote that he and Quinn 'felt that morally we could no longer stand by and allow our (Afghan local police) to commit atrocities,' reported The New Tribune.

But Col. Steve Johnson, who commanded Martland prior to the 2011 deployment, told the news channel that the Beret's had not been to act but to embed themselves with Afghan forces.

'You cannot try to impose American values and American norms onto the Afghan culture because they're completely different,' he told the news website.

Martland was serving in war-torn Kunduz Province when he shoved an alleged rapist to the ground (file picture)

At the time of the incident, Martland was part of a team from JBLM's 1st Special Forces Group tasked with building a new local police force with the support of local Afghan tribal leaders in the war-torn province in north Afghanistan

Martland and Quinn say they were first made aware of the allegations against Rahman after an interpreter approached them at camp.

Rahman was also said to have beaten up the boy's mother when she said she was going to report the attack.

When the soldiers, confronted Rahman about the claims, he 'laughed about it, and said it wasn't a big deal'.

Martland described how his team leader had picked up the police commander while he 'body slammed' him during the five minute confrontation.

He said: 'I kicked him once in his ribcage after one of the body slams. I put my foot on his neck and yelled at him after one body slam, but did not kick or punch him in the face. I continued to body slam him and throw him for 50 meters until he was outside the camp,' Fox News reported.

'I physically threw him through our front gate and off our camp, Quinn said.

The pair both refute what they deemed 'ridiculous' claims by the alleged child rapist that they had knocked out Rahman or that the violence had been more serious. Martland said the Afghan police commander had walked away with a few bruises.

But Johnson told The News Tribune he believed that the beating took the Afghan commander 'within an inch of his life' after speaking to Afghan leaders and Green Berets.

When the alleged rapist complained to the US Army, it reportedly halted Martland's mission, put him in a temporary job then sent him home.

Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter (file picture) has been fighting Martland's corner and wrote to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on his behalf

Martland was 'involuntary discharged' following a 'Qualitative Management Program' carried out by the Army in February this year. The reasons for his dismissal have not been made public due to the 'Privacy Act'.

Upon their return, Quinn quit the Army and secured a job on Wall Street, Fox News reported. However, Martland, from Massachusetts, launched a fight to remain a Green Beret.

Last week, Martland, who has served for 11 years, was told his case 'does not meet the criteria' for an appeal'.

The U.S. Army Human Resources Command wrote in a memo to the soldier: 'Consequently, your request for an appeal and continued service is disapproved.'

The memo was shared with Fox News by Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, who has been fighting Martland's corner.

'The fact that this one incident — an incident that was seriously misinterpreted by Army leadership, without even taking into consideration the moral necessity to intervene — is now the determining factor in SFC Martland's career is a black mark for the U.S. Army,' California Rep. Hunter, a former Marine, wrote to Secretary of Defense Ash Carter last week, reported the News Tribune.

Martland and Captain Dan Quinn were ordered earlier this year to leave the Army by November 1.

Sergeant Martland, who received a Bronze Star for valor for his actions during a Taliban ambush, wrote in a letter to the Army this year that he and Mr. Quinn 'felt that morally we could no longer stand by and allow our A.L.P. [Afghan Local Police] to commit atrocities.'

Last week's memo from the Army Human Resources Command said his appeal was rejected because appeals can only be considered for 'cases with material error, newly discovered evidence' or removal of certain documents.

Martland now has the option to appeal to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records.

The rejection of his appeal came after the Defense Department was criticized over claims U.S. soldiers were told to turn a blind eye to sexual abuse by Afghan police and army commanders.

Gregory Buckley Sr (left) claims that his son, Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley Jr (right), was gunned down in 2012 as a result of American officers being told to ignore the sexual abuse of Afghan boys

According to the father of a Marine, who was shot dead by a teenage 'sex slave', American officers were told to ignore the abuse - even when it took place on military bases - because that was 'not the priority of the mission'.

Gregory Buckley Sr thinks it was that policy which led to his son Lance Corporal Gregory Buckley Jr, being gunned down in Helmand Province in 2012.

His murderer was a 17-year-old Afghan servant, who is alleged to have been pressed into sexual slavery by local police chief Sarwar Jan.

Buckley Sr told the New York Times: 'As far as the young boys are concerned, the [US] Marines are allowing it to happen and so they're guilty by association

'They don't know our Marines are sick to their stomachs.'

However, the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John F. Campbell, told Fox News he was confident no such policy of turning a blind eye existed.

He said: 'I want to make absolutely clear that any sexual abuse or similar mistreatment of others, no matter the alleged perpetrator or victim, is completely unacceptable, and reprehensible.'

Meanwhile Navy Captain Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman says the U.S. has no policy directing forces to overlook human rights abuses.

And White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said America would continue to stand up to those who were denied human rights.

'The United States works closely with the Afghan government, civil society and international organizations in Afghanistan to put an end to the exploitation of children, but also to incorporate human rights training into our law enforcement programs to heighten awareness in prosecution of such crimes,' he added.