|
|
Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
|
|
|
|
The former officer, who
served at Waiouru in the 1970s, says conditions were not much different to
those in high schools and boarding schools of the era. Corporal punishment
was enforced in the education system, and this could have contributed to the
cadets' mindset, he said. Claims of abuse in the
military surface regularly and are not unique to New Zealand, he said, citing
Britain's Sandhurst Military Academy. "Every military
college in the world has had these scandals in their lifetime." He said there was
always "a level of boisterousness" among the cadets, but the
"closed nature" of the Waiouru school meant abuses could be
"covered up easily". The former officer did
not want to be named or give details of his occupation as it is possible he
will have to give evidence at a future inquiry. Though he believes it
likely the abuses did actually
take place, the man was quick to assert the behaviour would not have been
condoned by military officials in any way. Any commission set up
to investigate the abuses would have to be careful to judge the cadet
training school with like establishments, he says. "(The) commission
will have to tease out what was the prevailing culture in equivalent training
institutes at the time." It would also have to
be careful not to be inundated with claims, many of a dubious nature. "At the very least
it will come up with lots of individual cases, a long time ago, (where)
memory has been very selective." A commission would
doubtless dredge up a lot of information, much of it "very disturbing to
know", he says, but it would have to be careful of stories embellished
in the hope of receiving compensation payments. "You are going to
get a lot of information coming forward and it will depend on the reputation
and skill and the standing of the people who do the inquiry." He did not, however,
support the idea of financial compensation, preferring that counselling and
other support services be offered. "If people have
been genuinely affected by the experience, we should be offering all the
support and whatever we need to do to help . . ." |
