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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Increasing numbers of
former Army cadets at Waiouru are coming forward with stories of physical,
psychological and even sexual abuse. Defence officials are
now investigating the claims, which the Prime Minister has described as
shocking. And the Defence
Minister says he expects the inquiry to widen. One former cadet, Brian
Main, says one of his worst memories was getting whacked by a rifle
butt. "Sometimes they'd
have brooms and sticks and things like that. They had bayonets and things
like that too of course, but probably the worst thing was the swinging of the
rifles 'cause they didn't know who they were hitting either,"
says Main. For years he
considered the brutality he suffered at Waiouru part of military life, a
mentality many of those coming forward say was driven home to them during
their time there. Former cadet Eric West
says he spent a week in hospital as a result of one of the assaults. "I finished up
being discharged from the Army basically a nervous wreck," says West. It's estimated more
than 4000 boys went through the school from 1948 until 1991. Many say the abused
would often become the abusers. "I guess the
dynamic was basically that kind of 'Lord of the Flies' dynamic. Kids
essentially with unlimited power over other kids and not the maturity to
handle us," says West. Defence force officials
are now looking into the claims and Helen Clark says nothing will be swept
under the carpet. "I think we're at
the preliminary stage of trying to gauge what the dimensions of this are, but
the kinds of allegations we've heard are quite shocking," says Clark. Defence Minister Mark
Burton is urging former cadets to come forward. "We will then have a record of all of those people, the range of issues raised, and I will follow it up. I don't want to prejudge where this is going to go," says Burton. |
