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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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The results of a
long-delayed inquiry into allegations of abuse at the army's former cadet
school at Waiouru have been referred to the Crown Law office for legal
advice. The inquiry, by former
High Court judge David Morris, began in November last year and was to have
been completed by the end of March. It was held up when Judge Morris suffered
a heart problem. A spokesman for Defence
Minister Phil Goff said the report had now been received and had been
referred to the Crown Law office through the Attorney General. The inquiry was sparked
last October when former army sergeant Ian Fraser, himself a former cadet,
published an article reporting widespread physical, psychological and sexual
abuse of cadets as young as 15 at the school in the 1960s, '70s and '80s. He claimed about a
third of all cadets suffered abuse at the school and his aim was to gain
recognition and possible compensation for those suffering ongoing problems
from the abuse. Mr Fraser said it had
long been recognised that soldiers could have problems as a result of
traumatic military experiences. But it was harder for Army authorities to
accept that trauma and other psychological damage could result from the Army's
own culture of violence. His story prompted
about 300 former cadets to report their experiences at Waiouru. Judge Morris was asked
to look into the behaviour and treatment of cadets at the school from 1948
till it closed in 1991 as well as events surrounding the killing of cadet
Grant Bain who was shot in the barracks by another cadet in 1981. |
