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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A secret army inquiry
into the 1981 fatal shooting of a Waiouru cadet confirms claims that young
men were physically abused in an unsupervised environment where violence was
widespread and accepted. An army court of
inquiry into the death of cadet Grant Bain, 17, kept secret for more than 20
years, confirms allegations made this week that cadets were beaten and
abused. Mr Bain was shot by a fellow cadet after an altercation in their
barracks. The revelations come as
the Government has agreed to investigate claims made by former army sergeant
Ian Fraser that cadets as young as 15 were abused at the Waiouru Cadet School
between the 1960s and 1980s. Prime Minister Helen
Clark said yesterday the claims were "shocking" and would be
investigated immediately. Mr Fraser said
yesterday he had received more than 140 e-mails detailing widespread abuse of
cadets at Waiouru, including an allegation that one young person was raped by
three officers. He said in his opinion Mr Bain's death had been "covered
up". The army refused yesterday
to release a copy of the investigation into Mr Bain's death, but a copy
obtained by The Dominion Post reveals: * When Mr Bain was shot
the duty supervisor was absent from the barracks because he was attending to
another cadet who was injured when assaulted and harassed. * Other cadets were
kicked and punched. Minor violence was accepted. * Cadets were too
frightened to report the abuse or did not want to out of loyalty to other
cadets. * The court was
concerned that supervision was largely left to cadet officers who were
"really only boys" themselves. * Cadet officers were
given licence to harass their charges by the army's failure to staff the
school adequately. The court of inquiry
found that the undercurrent of violence contributed to Mr Bain's death. On
February 13, 1981, Mr Bain and fellow cadets were cleaning their M16 rifles
for inspection the next morning. Cadet corporal Andrew William Read, also
aged 17, loaded his rifle and pointed it at Mr Bain, who responded by
pointing his rifle back at Read "as in a western movie". Witnesses said Mr Bain
tried to avoid the confrontation but Read told Mr Bain the safety catch on
his rifle was off. After Mr Bain said
something like "You are a silly c. . ." or "f. . . off",
Reid fired and Mr Bain fell to the floor fatally wounded. Mr Bain died about 20
minutes later of severe blood loss and asphyxia. The court of inquiry
findings also reveal that four hours before Read shot Mr Bain another cadet
was hit in the arm with bits of powder from a blank cartridge fired by Read. Cadet officers received
their licence to harass junior cadets through the army's failure to staff the
school adequately. The school was lucky that there had not been an earlier
death inflicted by a cadet officer. The inquiry recommended
Read be court-martialled and discharged. If he was not charged, the army
could give the impression of "unprincipled and unreasonable leniency
bordering on a whitewash". Read was charged by
police with careless use of a firearm causing death. He pleaded guilty and
was fined $200 and ordered to do 200 hours community work. Mr Fraser, a former
communications officer who left the army in 1981, said he had been
overwhelmed with further abuse claims since going public this week. Army spokesman Murray Brown
said the inquiry into allegations was still in its early stages. Officials
were still gathering information from calls coming into Defence headquarters
and Defence Minister Mark Burton's office. Several people had
called to say they had been abused – these were people who just wanted to
"put up their hand to say there was an incident". |
