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34 Canadian Soldiers Charged with Abuses at Bosnian Mental Hospital
‘These incidents come on the heels of an unacceptably high number of cases of misconduct across the whole army’
On Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Maurice Baril confirmed that new information has substantiated charges that Canadian soldiers committed a series of abuses while stationed at the Bakovici mental hospital between October 1993 and April 1994. "I have noted a number of incidents that cause me considerable concern as they bring dishonor and discredit to the vast majority of our service members," Baril told a news conference at the Canadian Forces base in Saint-Hubert, near Montreal.
Even before questions surfaced about the conduct of Canadian officers in Bosnia, army morale was reeling from a long-running investigation of abuses by Canadian peacekeepers in Somalia in 1993, including the torture-slaying of a Somali teenager. Baril said Wednesday that there is "clear evidence" of misconduct that included alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, black-market activity, violence against patients, loss of a weapon, and failure to assist a seriously wounded Bosnian Serb.
The alleged wrongdoing involved members of the 12th Armored Regiment, based at Valcartier, near Quebec City.
The regiment’s soldiers were hailed as heroes in the fall of 1993 for feeding, clothing and defending more than 300 starving patients found in the abandoned and disease-ridden Bakovici hospital. Soldiers remained at the hospital helping care for patients until the spring of 1994. Baril said that officers who displayed "unacceptable behavior" will be removed from positions of command and assigned other duties.
"These incidents come on the heels of an unacceptably high number of cases of misconduct across the whole army," Baril said. "The army has a significant leadership deficiency and I intend to both address it and rectify it forthrightly."
Two of the 34 soldiers face disciplinary measures for being involved in an drunken attempt to kill a patient. At least two others were allegedly involved in the theft or loss of a machine gun. Although operations logs allegedly were altered to cover the misdeeds, Baril denied there was a high-level attempt to cover up the affair. "Cover-up is a harsh word," he said. "There was foot-dragging and lack of enthusiasm."
The allegations of wrongdoing first came to light in a report published in Esprit de Corps military magazine, which obtained a January 1995 briefing memo directed to Defense Minister David Collenette. The document, obtained under the Access to Information Act, said staff at a mental hospital in Bosnia had accused Canadian peacekeepers in 1994 of misconduct. Some military personnel suggested that hospital staff disgruntled about 12th Regiment personnel trying to stop their black-market trade in United Nations-furnished aid supplies had made the accusations.
Earlier this year, after the initial investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing, an army official suggested Bosnian politics played a role in the allegations. "Every time some propagandist in Yugoslavia wanted to hit the Canadians with something, they alleged we were raping and pillaging," said Col. Peter Maclaren, director-general of security at National Defense Headquarters.
As for the Canadian mission in Somalia, several enlisted men have been court-martialed and convicted for abuses, and a government-appointed commission continues often-tedious public hearings to determine if higher-ranking officers tried to hide the wrongdoing.
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TORONTO, July 17 (AP) - In the second major scandal involving Canadian peacekeeping troops, 34 soldiers face disciplinary action for abuses at a mental hospital in Bosnia, including beating patients and having sex with nurses, an army commander said Wednesday. Reports of misconduct by peacekeepers in Bosnia had been circulating for months, but an earlier investigation found no evidence to back up the complaints.
Berserkistan, July 17 · Canadian Forces Accused of Beatings, Rape in Bosnian Mental Hospital
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