What goes on in the Army...

[ndrthl]

By JOHN KAY
Chief Reporter,
and TONY BONNICI

THIS sickening picture handed to The Sun will fuel claims that bullying is rife in the Army.
A corporal is shown degrading three trainee squaddies by thrusting his naked bottom down into their faces.

Last night top brass launched an urgent probe after establishing that the picture was genuine.

Senior sources confirmed that Corporal Callum Gilchrist, 30, of the Light Infantry, was the NCO involved in the incident at Catterick Garrison, North Yorks.

One soldier who saw the bullying, which Gilchrist called a “Three-Man Lift”, was so disgusted he quit the Army.

He said: “The corporal dropped his trousers and sat on their faces. He thought it was a laugh but it wasn’t to the guys on the floor.

“They looked completely humiliated. One was nearly in tears.”

An Army spokesman said: “Allegations of this kind are taken very seriously.”

Last year videos emerged showing bullying of other recruits at Catterick and a Royal Marines trainee being beaten up.

Corporal Gilchrist is no longer on training duties.

www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006030450,00.html

[ndrthl]

By TOM NEWTON DUNN
Defence Editor

A BLACK squaddie with an exemplary record claims he was booted out of the Army for complaining about sick racism.

Shaka Wallace, 26, says he suffered constant abuse and the words “Die nigger” were scrawled on his barracks door as he slept.

The former cop claims he was elbowed in the ribs as he queued for a meal in the mess, and was publicly branded a “Yardie” by a Corporal because he comes from Trinidad.

And he says a Sergeant Major knocked off his beret, telling him he was “not worthy to wear it”.

The ex Trooper — who has made a full legal complaint — told The Sun: “Racism is rife and the Army seems to just brush it under the carpet.

“My superiors thought by getting rid of me they could get rid of the problem.

“I feel so frustrated and cheated. It’s ruined my life.”

Shaka, of East London, has asked an employment tribunal to order top brass to reinstate him and pay tens of thousands of pounds damages for lost wages and grief.

The case, set to start on January 31, is a major setback for Army chiefs who have worked to drive out racism.

Shaka — who drove Challenger II battle tanks in the posh Queen’s Royal Hussars regiment — said: “I joined the Army to fight for what’s right.

“I was so excited about becoming the best solider I could. Now I’m fighting the very people I wanted to be. And I know other black and Asian soldiers are suffering.”

Shaka passed his 12 months’ training with distinction and was based with his regiment in Paderborn, Germany.

He was so keen to fit in he wore an England football shirt and hung a Union Jack flag above his bed.

But he said: “I was continually subject to verbal abuse and taunts. I felt humiliated and embarrassed.

“They were trying to divide me from the rest of the men. But my reports were all good.”

In March last year, Shaka felt driven to register an official complaint.
He said: “From that moment I began to receive bad reports.”

Shaka developed depression, and was thrown out in July, after two years in the Army.

He said: “I’ve not been able to find work since. I'm sleeping on sofas and my life’s a mess.

“I hope the truth will come out and I finally get justice. The Army needs to face up to the problem of racism.”

An MoD spokeswoman said: “We cannot comment as it is the subject of legal proceeding.

“But the number of incidents of racially motivated harassment is relatively low.”

www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006030721,00.html

[ndrthl]

english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/96/383/16796_hazing.html

Victim of hazing loses his legs and genitals after brutal rape and tortures
01/25/2006 19:11
A group of drunk servicemen was torturing a 19-year-old soldier for several hours

"A soldier must bravely and courageously endure all burdens and privations of the army service," the Military Charter runs. The wording, however, receives a different perception in the Russian army, when so-called old files decide to make younger recruits experience all severities of the army service.

News messages about incidents of army hazing appear on a regular basis globally. Russia is not an exception at this point. News agencies periodically report about tortures, harassment, humiliation and even acts of group suicide in the Russian army.

The story, which took place in the beginning of January when Russia was celebrating New Year holidays, strikes imagination with its brutality. The drama happened in a training process battalion of the Higher Military Command Institute, the Chelyabinsk region of Russia. A group of drunk old-timers brutally beat eight of 40 soldiers staying in the barracks one night. Andrey Sychev, 19, suffered from the tortures most. The older soldiers were tormenting the young man for more than three hours. Sychev was subsequently hospitalized with gangrene of his both legs. Doctors had to amputate the soldier's legs and genitals. Andrey Sychev, recruited in 2005, is still in severe condition, news agencies report.

The young man's mother and sister have recently arrived in the city of Chelyabinsk. They visit Andrey at the hospital and say they will leave the city only when the investigation is completed.

The regional Office of the Military Prosecutor has already launched an investigation into the fact of hazing. Six suspects, two of them officers, have been arrested so far. The assaulters were making the soldier squat down for hours and did not let him stand up.

The information posted on the website of the Russian Office of the Prosecutor General says that the group of older servicemen was torturing and beating eight younger soldiers for several days. One of the assaulters was making Andrey Sychev remain motionless half-seated. "As a result of this violence, the victim suffered from the compression of leg and genital tissues, which subsequently led to the development of gangrenous inflammation," a message from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russia said.

Sychev was complaining of pain in the legs during the next three days. The young man was not given the appropriate medical aid and was hospitalized on January 4 when he could not go out of the barracks.

An unofficial version of the incident is different from the one of the investigation. A high-ranking official from the Chelyabinsk regional garrison who spoke on condition of anonymity said that private Sychev had been gang-raped for several hours. The military prosecutors are aware of the assault, but they were told not to expose the facts not to harm the image of the Russian Armed Forces, news agencies report.

According to the source, the soldier was tied to a bunk for several hours while being raped. Doctors say that gangrene of a limb develops when blood flow to the limb is interrupted for four hours. The anonymous official added that the fact of the brutal rape would be unveiled upon the command from higher military instances.

[aroundtheworld]

story #2 is sad.

[nymos]

aroundtheworld said:

story #2 is sad.

Were you counting from 0?

[ndrthl]

www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3214,36-735455@51-693550,0.html

Le sort d'un jeune appelé russe de 19 ans, Andreï Sitchev, amputé des jambes et des organes génitaux après avoir été torturé par des sous-officiers pris de boisson, suscite une vive émotion en Russie où, chaque année, des centaines de jeunes appelés décèdent des mauvais traitements reçus dans le cadre du bizutage en vigueur dans l'armée. Régulièrement dénoncé par les familles et des ONG de défense des droits de l'homme, aux premiers rangs desquelles le Comité des mères de soldats, le bizutage est toléré par les autorités qui tendent à le minimiser et ne font rien pour le contrer.



Relayé par les médias, le scandale de Tcheliabinsk (ville de l'Oural à 2 000 kilomètres à l'est de Moscou) suscite une telle indignation dans le pays que le parquet militaire a annoncé l'ouverture d'une enquête ainsi que la mise en examen de dix militaires, dont le commandant de l'Académie des blindés de Tcheliabinsk, Viktor Sidorov, relevé de ses fonctions.

Le ministre russe de la défense, Sergueï Ivanov, un proche du président Vladimir Poutine promu récemment au rang de vice-premier ministre afin de mettre en place la réforme de l'armée, avait, dans un premier temps, minimisé l'affaire. "Si quelque chose de grave s'était produit, on m'en aurait informé", avait-il répondu à un journaliste qui l'interrogeait, jeudi 26 janvier. Depuis, le ministre s'est indigné de ce que la haute hiérarchie militaire ait seulement été informée "25 jours après les faits" et a promis des sanctions.

Cette histoire n'est qu'une suite de cruauté et de négligences. Les faits remontent au 1er janvier, lorsqu'une vingtaine de sous-officiers et de soldats avinés ont frappé la jeune recrue accroupie et ligotée entre deux chaises toute une nuit durant. La raison ? "Les dedy (les recrues plus âgées et les sous-officiers) avaient envoyé le jeune garçon chercher des filles dans le village voisin. Où aurait-il pu les trouver ? Alors ils lui ont dit qu'il allait payer de sa personne puisqu'il n'avait rien trouvé. Ils l'ont attaché, (...) et l'ont tabassé. A la fin, les tissus et les vaisseaux se sont nécrosés", raconte Lioudmilla Zintchenko, du Comité des mères de soldats de Tcheliabinsk.

Surtout, le jeune Andreï Sitchev a dû attendre trois jours, malgré la douleur, pour être admis dans un hôpital civil. Là, les médecins ont dû lui amputer les jambes et les organes génitaux gangrenés. Ils ont ensuite alerté, en cachette des autorités, la mère de la victime et le Comité des mères de soldats, lequel a alerté le parquet local, la presse et les autorités fédérales.


MENACES TÉLÉPHONIQUES


Le Comité des mères de soldats de Tcheliabinsk a raconté comment, au début, le parquet militaire privilégiait la version d'une maladie développée par le jeune appelé, allant même jusqu'à expliquer qu'il avait, de cette façon, cherché à se faire réformer. Dans le même temps, la famille du jeune homme recevait des menaces par téléphone, a expliqué Marina Mouffert, sa soeur, lors d'un entretien diffusé, vendredi 27 janvier, par la radio Ekho de Moscou.

Ce n'est pas la première fois que de jeunes appelés meurent après des sévices subis pendant leur service militaire. En 2005, 200 recrues avaient contracté une pneumonie après avoir été laissées des heures en chemise sur le tarmac d'un aéroport par - 20 °C. Un jeune garçon, Vladimir Biriozine, en était mort. Les statistiques officielles évoquent le décés suspect de 16 appelés en 2005 mais aussi 276 suicides et 857 "décès hors combat". Pour le Comité des mères de soldats, la plupart de ces morts sont à mettre au compte du bizutage. Le Comité n'est pas vu d'un bon oeil par les autorités, qui ont annoncé, vendredi, la fermeture d'une de ses émanations, le Centre de recherche sur les droits de l'homme.

Marie Jégo
Article paru dans l'édition du 29.01.06

[Josh]

nymos said:

aroundtheworld said:

story #2 is sad.

Were you counting from 0?

I agree. All of the stories are unfortunate, but the 3rd one is the only one in which the victim suffered permanant damage and basically had his life destroyed.

[ndrthl]

Here is a pic of the unfortunate Russian soldier:

img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=andreisychev2nl.jpg