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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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Joining the army
shouldn't be an easy option. After all, the lives of many people -- and the
fate of the country -- could depend on it. That's why basic
training is tough. A soft undisciplined civilian goes in one end and a
hardened, physically fit soldier should come out the other. In the process
the young man or woman is taught to follow an order without question and to
be part of that team that is the army. Much of that initial
training will involve pain, both physical and psychological, because most
young recruits come straight from home and the soft life. As the young
recruit is turned into a soldier they will be pushed to the limit of their
endurance -- and beyond. They will also learn to cope with different physical
conditions and deprivations so that when the time comes they won't be put off
by anything the enemy throws at them. It is all preparation
for when they have to go into battle. When they do, it is hoped that their
training will prepare them to live and fight in the worst of conditions --
and defeat their opponent. However, there is a big
difference between toughening up and sadism. And it is the latter that
appears to have been happening at the army's cadet school in Waiouru between
the 1960s and the 1980s. Over the last week
there have been some horrific stories told by some who attended the school as
teenagers. There have been tales of cadets thrown into boiling hot showers
and scrubbed with yard brooms. Some beaten so hard that bones have been
broken or poked in the anus with an instructor's cane. Some of the junior
officers involved went way too far. It is easy to say that
the behaviour was no worse than that in boarding schools at the time. That
was one of the excuses by one of the former officers in charge at the school.
It might not have been
any worse but that doesn't make it any less of an offence. Even in the less
politically correct 1960s it was still considered inappropriate to beat
someone so badly that they ended up in hospital. A Government inquiry
has been ordered into the allegations of abuse at the school. But with the
school long closed and some of the complaints going back 20 or 30 years,
there can't really be much chance that anyone will be called to account. The
investigation is unlikely to do anything more than give the victims some
satisfaction that at last their complaints have been recognised. The military, with its
closed culture and strict control of the individual, is the perfect place for
bullying and abuse to go unchecked, especially if it is disguised as
discipline or punishment. That makes it even more important that there is a
system so complaints can be made, acted on professionally, and any
perpetrators apprehended. The inquiry must ensure that such a procedure is in
place. |
