Somalia Affair - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Somalia Affair was a 1993 military scandal

Scandal

A scandal is a widely publicized allegation or set of allegations that damages the reputation of an institution, individual or creed...

later dubbed "Canada's national shame". It peaked with the brutal beating death of a Somali teenager at the hands of two Canadian soldiers participating in humanitarian efforts in Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. The crime, documented by grisly photos, shocked the Canadian public and brought to light internal problems in the Canadian Airborne Regiment. Military leadership came into sharp rebuke after a CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

reporter received altered documents, leading to allegations of a cover up

Cover Up

Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984 to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson....

.

Eventually a public inquiry was called. Despite being controversially cut short by the government, the Somalia Inquiry cited problems in the leadership of the Canadian Forces. The affair led to the disbanding of Canada's elite Canadian Airborne Regiment, greatly damaging the morale of the Canadian Forces, and marring the domestic and international reputation of Canadian soldiers. It also led to the immediate reduction of Canadian military spending by nearly 25% from the time of the killing to the inquiry.

Background

In 1992, Somalia was in the middle of both famine and civil war, and the country was largely embroiled in chaos

Civil disorder

Civil disorder, also known as civil unrest or civil strife, is a broad term that is typically used by law enforcement to describe one or more forms of disturbance caused by a group of people. Civil disturbance is typically a symptom of, and a form of protest against, major socio-political problems;...

and domination by warlords, following the collapse of Siad Barre

Siad Barre

Mohamed Siad Barre was the military dictator and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ....

's Marxist government. Relief supplies were frequently stolen by armed gangs, who would hold the goods hostage for the loyalty of the population. As a result, the United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

requested armed peacekeeper

Peacekeeper

Peacekeeper may refer to:* A person involved in peacekeeping* Peace officer* Conservator of the peaceIn vehicles:* The LGM-118 Peacekeeper, a land-based nuclear ICBM...

s to assist the relief operations.

In the summer of 1992, Brian Mulroney would commit Canada to United Nations Operation in Somalia I (UNOSOM I). Canada was being pressured to make this decision because in the past it had aggressively engaged in Yugoslavia in 1992 and had reached out to Balkan refugees later that year . The heightened media coverage on Somalia had also put more pressure on the Canadian government to mobilize a peacekeeping effort. Thanks to the Mulroney government’s desire to improve conflict resolution mechanisms and for its natural interest in multilateralism

Multilateralism

Multilateralism is a term in international relations that refers to multiple countries working in concert on a given issue.International organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization are multilateral in nature...

and peacekeeping

Peacekeeping

Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....

, Canada found the Somali Civil War

Somali Civil War

The Somali Civil War is an ongoing civil war taking place in Somalia. The conflict, which began in 1991, has caused destabilisation throughout the country, with the current phase of the conflict seeing the Somali government losing substantial control of the state to rebel forces...

to fit its foreign policy priorities. Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

was himself a ‘Pearsonian’ and a multilateralist who would have a great deal of confidence in the United Nations . Canadian diplomat Geoffrey Pearson argued that “effective multilateral arrangements provide a means to exert influence on major allies and powerful neighbours as well as help maintain peace” . Mulroney’s notion of new internationalism coupled with this notion of multilateralism would see intervention as a moral imperative in cases of intra-state disorder and massive human rights abuse . He commented that it would be ideal for the United Nations to become still more effective and more of an actor in international affairs, since there are certain fundamental rights that all people possess and these should be defended by the international community .

Contributing to the US-led coalition and taking part in the UN force to Somalia seemed to align with Canadian foreign policy and fit Mulroney's vision for peacekeeping, as he was the "principal driver behind Canada's decision to commit itself to the Somalia mission" .

Canada would then be among the nations that agreed to send forces. The Minister of External Affairs Barbara McDougall

Barbara McDougall

Barbara Jean McDougall, PC, OC, is a former Canadian politician. McDougall received a B.A. from the University of Toronto in political science and economics, in 1963.In 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada....

noted that the mandate would be to "shoot first, ask questions later" to try and bring peace to the country. Canadian forces, under the name Operation Deliverance

Operation Deliverance

Operation Deliverance was a Canadian Forces peace keeping military operation in Somalia and formed part of the United Nations peacekeeping deployment to that country...

, were sent to Somalia to participate in the American-led Operation Restore Hope. On 4 May 1993, the operation was to come under UN command and was renamed UNOSOM II

UNOSOM II

United Nations Operation in Somalia II was the second phase of the United Nations intervention in Somalia, from March 1993 until March 1995....

.

It was decided that the Canadian Airborne Regiment (CAR) would be the contingent sent overseas. The Airborne had long been seen as the elite of the Canadian Forces, and in 1974 had performed admirably in combat operations in Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

as well as later peacekeeping tours there. However, General Beno informed General Lewis MacKenzie

Lewis MacKenzie

Major-General Lewis Wharton MacKenzie, UE, CM, CMM, MSC, O.Ont, CD is a retired Canadian general, author and media commentator. MacKenzie is most famous for establishing and commanding Sector Sarajevo as part of the United Nations Protection Force UNPROFOR in Yugoslavia in 1992...

that training in the CAR was a "critical" problem due to Paul Morneault's leadership. It was debated whether to substitute another regiment, or cancel the mission entirely, but it was finally decided that to admit that the "elite" Canadian forces were incapable of handling a routine mission would have been a "national disgrace".

Canadian Airborne Regiment

Only recently deemed a light infantry battalion, some leaders expressed concern that the Somalia mission did not fit the Regiment's mandate or abilities. The Airborne consisted of multiple sub-units drawn from each of Canada's regular infantry regiments. Later, Lt. Col. Kenward suggested that the line regiments had offloaded some of their "bad apples" into the CAR. Lt. Col. Morneault, the commanding officer of the CAR, declared the "rogue commando" unit unfit for service abroad and sought to have it remain in Canada. Instead, he was relieved of his command and replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Carol Mathieu.

There had been recurring discipline problems, and an ongoing investigation into their base of CFB Petawawa

CFB Petawawa

Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, commonly referred to as CFB Petawawa, or simply "Pet", is a Canadian Forces Base located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by Canadian Forces Land Force Command.-Base facts:...

as a hotbed of white supremacist activity in 2 Commando. This included the adoption of the Rebel flag as the commando's barracks-room decoration. The flag had initially been presented as a gift from American soldiers, and gradually became an unofficial symbol, although successive commanding officer

Commanding officer

The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...

s had tried to ban its usage.

Footage depicting racist actions of Cpl. McKay and Pte. Brocklebank was later brought forward by Scott Taylor, who hoped to expose systematic problems in the military and exonerate his friend Kyle Brown. In the video, McKay can be heard uttering racial slurs, and pre-deployment photographs showed him wearing a Hitler shirt in front of a Swastika

Swastika

The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...

. Brocklebank was seen "uttering racist and violent epithets on a video taken by [CAR] soldiers".

Video of brutal hazing

Hazing

Hazing is a term used to describe various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group....

rituals also came to light, including a video from the summer of 1992 which showed 1 Commando engaging in "hijinks" ranging from smearing faeces on each other, to bestiality; the black soldier Christopher Robin was shown on all fours with a leash, led around like a dog, with the phrase "I Love KKK" written on his back, while surrounding soldiers screamed about White Power and jeered, one demonstrating his objection to Black

Black Canadian

'Black Canadians is a designation used for people of Black African descent, who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The term specifically refers to Canadians with Sub-Saharan African ancestry. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin...

soldiers in the Airborne through racist language.

Mike Abel, the only Canadian to die in the Somali operation, was alleged a member of the KKK; although colleagues disputed the evidence that racist literature had been found in his belongings, pointing out that it just floated around the camp and everybody read it.

Airborne in Somalia

The CAR was deployed in December 1992, accompanied by a helicopter squadron and a squadron of the Royal Canadian Dragoons. Although they were planning to deploy to the comparatively quiet port city of Bosaso, four days after arriving in Somalia commander Serge Labbé informed them that consultation with the Americans meant they would be moving to the southern town of Belet Huen, considered one of the more difficult areas to patrol.

One of the first tasks of the Dragoons, under command of Sgt. Donald Hobbs, was to rebuild a bridge that had been destroyed on the Chinese Highway linking Belet Huen and Matabaan. With the loss of the bridge, the only way around was through a partially-cleared minefield.

On January 2, Canadian forces seized an AK-47

AK-47

The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...

from a local Somali who returned the following day with a machete to threaten the troops to give him back his gun; a warning shot

Warning shot

A warning shot is a military term describing harmless artillery shot or gunshot intended to call attention and demand some action of compliance...

was fired and ricocheted, hitting him in the foot. He left, refusing medical care. Also in January 1993, Captain Roy D. Commander of the elite pathfinder unit, gave verbal orders allowing Canadian soldiers to shoot thieves under certain conditions. On January 29, suspected bandits were found congregating on a roadway and as Canadian forces approached them, they began to flee. Warning shot

Warning shot

A warning shot is a military term describing harmless artillery shot or gunshot intended to call attention and demand some action of compliance...

s were fired into the air to halt them, leading to a retaliatory shot from a Somali, and returned fire from the Canadian troops.

On February 10, they fired on a crowd approaching a Red Cross distribution centre.

On February 17, a demonstration of 50-300 Somalis crowded together on the bailey bridge

Bailey bridge

The Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed by the British during World War II for military use and saw extensive use by both British and the American military engineering units....

over the Shebelle River

Shebelle River

The Shebelle River begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu, the river becomes seasonal...

, and when some began throwing rocks at the Canadian Forces, soldiers fired two shotgun

Shotgun

A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...

blasts, killing one Somali and injuring two others. A later investigation cleared the shooters of any wrongdoing, noting they were "justified" in their response.

By the end of the mission, no Canadian troops had been killed or wounded by enemy forces; the sole casualties arising when a soldier shot himself in the arm while cleaning his sidearm

Sidearm

In baseball, sidearm describes balls thrown along a low, approximately horizontal axis rather than a high, mostly vertical axis ....

on January 11, and when MCpl. Smith negligently discharged his rifle, fatally wounding Cpl. Abel on May 3, 1993.

March 4 killing

On March 4, two unarmed Somalis were shot in the back, one fatally, after Canadian troops laid an ambush to try and catch petty thieves stealing from the military base in Belet Huen. This followed from a decision by Captain Michel Rainville

Michel Rainville

Captain Rainville was a Canadian soldier who has courted controversy on several occasions for his orders leading to public outcry. He was ultimately acquitted of criminal charges for his actions, but released from military service.-Training exercises:...

to re-label petty theft by Somalis as "sabotage", a distinction that meant deadly force could be used to defend the base. Rainville relied on the argument that a fuel pump

Fuel pump

A fuel pump is a frequently essential component on a car or other internal combustion engined device. Many engines do not require any fuel pump at all, requiring only gravity to feed fuel from the fuel tank through a line or hose to the engine...

used to service American MedEvac

MEDEVAC

Medical evacuation, often termed Medevac or Medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities using...

helicopters had been stolen deliberately to hinder the military effort, while critics pointed out that any saboteurs likely would have ignited the thousands of gallons of fuel surrounding it.

After Warrant Officer

Warrant Officer

A warrant officer is an officer in a military organization who is designated an officer by a warrant, as distinguished from a commissioned officer who is designated an officer by a commission, or from non-commissioned officer who is designated an officer by virtue of seniority.The rank was first...

Marsh discovered the missing fuel pump, he suggested installing a large searchlight

Searchlight

A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...

atop a tower to deter thieves. He was dismissed by Rainville, who suggested that the idea was not to deter thieves, but to catch them in the act using night vision

Night vision

Night vision is the ability to see in low light conditions. Whether by biological or technological means, night vision is made possible by a combination of two approaches: sufficient spectral range, and sufficient intensity range...

. Rainville ordered that food and water be placed in a trailer at the south end of the compound, visible to Somalis walking past on the nearby road. Some soldiers alleged this constituted "bait", but Rainville would later defend himself saying it had been to distinguish between thieves and saboteurs to prevent shooting thieves.

Rainville enlisted Cpl. Ben Klick of the PPCLI to lay in a truckbed at night, awaiting potential "saboteurs" with a C3A1 rifle. From his position, he watched two Somalis, Ahmed Arush and Abdi Hunde Bei Sabrie, approach the food and water that the Canadians had laid out as bait. Fifteen minutes after first noticing the pair, the thieves began to run from the base in fear they had been noticed; Rainville yelled at them to "stop", and called to Sgt. Plante, Cpl. King and Cpl. Favasoli to "get them". Plante fired with his shotgun, while King fired with his C7

C7, C07 or C-7 may refer to:* C-7 Caribou, a military transport aircraft* Nokia C7-00, a touch screen mobile from Nokia* C7 protein, engineered transcription factors* C7 , a song by Japanese band GO!GO!7188...

; Plante's shot wounded Sabrie, who fell to the ground, while Arush kept running back towards the roadway. Cpl Leclerc and MCpl Countway both shot at him as he ran, although Cpl. Klick had refrained noting that the man presented no risk to Canadian forces. Arush fell to the ground, hit by one of the two men's shots. He struggled to stand up, but both men fired again, killing him.

It was noted that Sabrie had been carrying a ceremonial dagger in his clothing. When the unit was ordered to bring the dead body of Arush be brought over to the same position as Sabrie, the soldiers radioed back that they couldn't move the body without it falling apart. So the body of Arush was loaded into a body bag

Body bag

A body bag is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body, used for the storage and transportation of corpses. Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgues. Before purpose-made body bags were available, cotton mattress covers were sometimes used, particularly in...

and placed inside a Bison personnel carrier. There, medical technician MCpl Petersen re-opened the bag and took Polaroid

Instant film

Instant film is a type of photographic film first introduced by Polaroid that is designed to be used in an instant camera...

photographs for an unknown reason, some suggest to document the shooting, others suggest as a "trophy". The photos showed gaping wounds in Arush's neck and the side of his face, with his skull twisted out of shape by the force of the gunblast. His intestines protruded from his stomach, and his right eye is missing.

An Air Force flight surgeon, Major Barry Armstrong, examined the body and judged the death "suspicious", suggesting that Arush had been lying prone on the ground when he was killed. He also noted that the amount of omentum

Omentum

Omentum may refer to:* greater omentum* lesser omentum...

which had passed through the first wounds suggested the 29-year old Arush had been breathing for at least 2 or 3 minutes before the final gunshots to his head were fired.

After the examination, Arush's body was then used for medical practice for soldiers, demonstrating how to stab a tracheotomy

Tracheotomy

Among the oldest described surgical procedures, tracheotomy consists of making an incision on the anterior aspect of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea...

into a wounded man's throat to allow him to breathe, and then used to demonstrate the proper preparation of a body for transportation. The body was then returned to the body bag, and sent into the local hospital, where Dr. Xelen released it to Arush's family the same evening. For the next two weeks, Colonel Allan Wells approached Vice-Admiral Larry Murray

Larry Murray

Vice Admiral Larry E. Murray, CMM, CD is a Canadian retired civil servant, retired Vice Admiral and former acting Chief of the Defence Staff.-Military career:...

asking to send military police

Military police

Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...

to Somalia to investigate the shooting, but was rebuffed. When the Chief of Defence Staff

Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada)

The Chief of the Defence Staff is the second most senior member of the Canadian Forces, and heads the Armed Forces Council, having primary responsibility for command, control, and administration of the forces, as well as military strategy, plans, and requirements...

, Admiral

Admiral

Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...

John Rogers Anderson

John Rogers Anderson, is a Canadian retired Admiral and civil servant.-Military career:Anderson was born in British Columbia and attended University of British Columbia; he graduated with a BSc and attended a Long Operations Officers course. He joined the Navy in 1963 and worked his way up the...

, visited the military base on March 8–9, he visited the wounded Somali recovering in the Canadian hospital.

The event would not have been reported, except that Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

John Brewin

John F. Brewin is a Canadian politician, who served as Member of Parliament for Victoria from 1988 to 1993. He is a member of the New Democratic Party, as was his father Andrew Brewin. He was married to Gretchen Brewin, who served concurrently as mayor of the city of Victoria...

read out an anonymous letter he had received from a soldier about witnessing the "execution" of a Somali civilian on March 4.

At the subsequent inquiry, Klick defended Rainville, heavily criticising his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Carol Mathieu, and testified that American Special Forces Chief Warrant Officer

Chief Warrant Officer

Chief warrant officer is a military rank used by the Canadian Forces and the Israel Defence Forces.-Canada:In the Canadian Forces, a chief warrant officer or CWO is the most senior non-commissioned member rank in the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force...

Jackson had interrogated the wounded Somali who confessed to being a saboteur; although this contradicted all other evidence, including the statements of the American soldier who never mentioned any interrogation. In 1994, the Ministry of Defence engaged in an undercover attempt to discredit Armstrong's findings, phoning Allan Thompson of the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

and offering to leak to him the pathology report by James Ferris conducted two months after the killing, which found the decomposing body showed none of the signs Armstrong had suggested. Thompson took his evidence of a preconceived "leak" from the Ministry to the subsequent inquiry, where they added weight to Armstrong's findings. While his commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Carol Mathieu described Armstrong as bordering on insanity at the inquiry, the only evidence he produced was that he liked to climb onto the roof of the hospital at night in Somalia and watch the stars.

Death of Shidane Arone

On March 16, 1993, Captain Michael Sox found Shidane Abukar Arone hiding in a portable toilet

Portable toilet

Portable toilet are simple portable enclosures containing a chemical toilet which are typically used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large gatherings and events. Most of the portable toilets have black open-front-U-shaped toilet seat with cover...

in an abandoned American base across from the Canadian base and, believing he was attempting to sneak into the Canadian base to steal supplies, turned him over to another soldier, who led the teenager to a bunker

Bunker

A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

being used to house munitions. Arone protested, claiming he had simply been trying to find a lost child.

At 21:00, Sgt. Mark Boland replaced Master Corporal

Master Corporal

Master Corporal , in the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Army Cadets is an appointment of the rank of Corporal in the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Airforce...

Clayton Matchee

Master Corporal Clayton Matchee is a former Canadian soldier and a central figure in the Somalia Affair.A member of the Cree Flying Dust First Nation reserve, Matchee is one of five children. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1984, and moved into the elite Airborne Regiment in 1988...

as guard of the prisoner, and ordered that his foot bindings be removed, and replaced with fetters

Fetters

Legcuffs, shackles, footcuffs, fetters or leg irons are a kind of physical restraint used on the feet or ankles to allow walking but prevent running and kicking. The term "fetter" shares a root with the word "foot"....

as the ropes were too tight. Warrant Officer Murphy took the opportunity to kick Arone "savagely", which was later claimed to be implicit permission to abuse the prisoner. At this time, Matchee began his abuse of Arone by removing the captive's clothing and using it to crudely waterboard

Waterboarding

Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning...

the youth until Boland objected, and Matchee left the bunker.

At 22:00, Trooper

Trooper (rank)

Trooper from the French "troupier" is the equivalent rank to private in a regiment with a cavalry tradition in the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Today, most cavalry units operate in the armoured role, equipped...

Kyle Brown

Kyle Brown (Canadian soldier)

Private Kyle Brown was a Canadian soldier implicated in the death in custody of Somali teenager Shidane Arone.The Canadian supply depot in Somalia was being looted and Arone was suspected of being one of the looters. Master Corporal Clayton Matchee took a lead role in Arone's torture and murder.The...

took over guard duty, and brought Matchee back with him. Brown punched Arone in the jaw, and was told by Boland, rather prophetically, "I don't care what you do, just don't kill the guy", to which Brown replied that he wanted to "kill this fucker". Boland then joined Matchee and Matt McKay for beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

s in the mess hall, where Matchee spoke about what he wanted to do to Arone, and suggested he might put out cigarette butts on his feet. McKay suggested that Matchee might use a ration pack

MRE

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat — commonly known as the MRE — is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought by the United States military for its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food facilities are not available...

or phone book to beat the youth, as it would not leave any traces.

Matchee and Brown, both members of 2 Commando, then proceeded to beat Arone. Matchee used a ration pack to beat the youth, as well as a broomstick, and sodomised the teenager with it. Brown participated in the abuse, but was primarily an observer and took sixteen "trophy photos" of the beating, including one of Matchee forcing Arone's mouth open with a baton, and one of himself holding Pte. David Brocklebank's loaded pistol to Arone's head. At approximately 23:20, Master Cpl. Giasson entered the bunker, Matchee showed him Arone, who was now semi-conscious and bleeding, and boasted that "in Canada we cannot do that, and here they let us do it".

Estimates have ranged from 15-80 other soldiers could hear or observe the beating, but did not intervene. Corporal MacDonald, acting as duty signaller that night, was asked by Sgt. Major Mills about "a long dragged out howl" heard from the vicinity of the bunker, but MacDonald refused to stop playing Game Boy

Game Boy

The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...

to investigate. Later, Matchee came by to borrow a cigarette from MacDonald and mentioned that "now the Black man would fear the Indian as he did the white man", and MacDonald went outside to check on Arone's status. He saw Matchee hitting him in the face with the baton, and reported that the prisoner was "getting a good shit-kicking" to Sgt. Perry Gresty, before retiring to bed for the night.

Arone fell unconscious after several hours of beatings, after shouting "Canada! Canada! Canada!" as his last words. When Brown mentioned the event to Sergeant J.K. Hillier, the non-commissioned officer noted there "would be trouble" if the prisoner died, and went to check on the youth whom he found had no pulse, and base medics confirmed that the boy was dead. It was later discovered that Arone had burn marks on his penis.

Response

Jim Day, a reporter with the Pembroke Observer local newspaper from the regiment's hometown, was on the base at the time and was the first to report that Canadian soldiers were being held pending an investigation into the death of a Somali citizen.

The debate over what led to the events came at a politically sensitive time in Canada, as the Minister of National Defence Kim Campbell

Kim Campbell

Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...

was in the midst of a Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

leadership campaign to become Prime Minister. Matters were made worse when Campbell tried to dismiss the allegations of racism in the Canadian military be referring to it as "youthful folly" and suggesting that it was commonplace. Criticism also focused on the fact that it took five weeks to order a high-level investigation into the events in Somalia.

Some, including Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

John Cummins, quickly pointed out that three of the four men facing the most serious charges had been given experimental injections of Lariam, a brand-name of Mefloquine

Mefloquine

Mefloquine hydrochloride is an orally administered medication used in the prevention and treatment of malaria. Mefloquine was developed in the 1970s at the United States Department of Defense's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as a synthetic analogue of quinine...

, to test its effects on combatting malaria

Malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

in a controlled study group

Study group

A study group is a small group of people who regularly meet to discuss shared fields of study. These groups can be found in high school and college settings and within companies. Professional advancement organizations also may encourage study groups....

. The drug was known to cause paranoia

Paranoia

Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...

, lack of judgment, neurosis

Neurosis

Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations, whereby behavior is not outside socially acceptable norms. It is also known as psychoneurosis or neurotic disorder, and thus those suffering from it are said to be neurotic...

and other mental side effects, and some have suggested it bore some responsibility for the soldiers' actions. Dr. Michele Brill-Edwards had actually resigned in protest from Health Canada

Health Canada

Health Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national public health.The current Minister of Health is Leona Aglukkaq, a Conservative Member of Parliament appointed to the position by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.-Branches, regions and agencies:Health Canada...

over her belief that the drug could produce "dangerous psychiatric reactions" in the soldiers.

Legal proceedings

A death in custody automatically triggered an investigation, and two days later Matchee and Brown were arrested and charged with the murder and National Defence Headquarters

Department of National Defence Headquarters (Canada)

The Major-General George R. Pearkes Building is the principal location of Canada's National Defence Headquarters and is located in Ottawa, Ontario....

was advised.

Matchee later attempted to hang himself in his cell; the attempt failed but caused massive brain damage, making him unfit to stand trial.

Name	Charge	Result
MCpl. Clayton Matchee Clayton Matchee Master Corporal Clayton Matchee is a former Canadian soldier and a central figure in the Somalia Affair.A member of the Cree Flying Dust First Nation reserve, Matchee is one of five children. He joined the Canadian Forces in 1984, and moved into the elite Airborne Regiment in 1988...	2nd Degree Murder Torture	Unfit to stand trial following suicide Suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse... attempt. Matchee tried to hang himself after being arrested and suffered serious brain damage Brain damage "Brain damage" or "brain injury" is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors... . He was later released from military service.
Pte. Kyle Brown Kyle Brown (Canadian soldier) Private Kyle Brown was a Canadian soldier implicated in the death in custody of Somali teenager Shidane Arone.The Canadian supply depot in Somalia was being looted and Arone was suspected of being one of the looters. Master Corporal Clayton Matchee took a lead role in Arone's torture and murder.The...	2nd Degree Murder Torture	Convicted to 5 years imprisonment. Dismissed from the army in disgrace. Appeals were also dismissed. Released on parole one year after conviction.
Sgt. Mark Boland	Negligent Performance of Duties Torture	Pleaded guilty to negligent performance of duty for his role in the death of Shidane Arone, and not guilty to torture. Convicted to 90 days' detention. Deemed to be "willfully blind" to the beating, Boland was also demoted to private Private (rank) A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career... . Conviction increased to 1 year of imprisonment after prosecution appealed sentence, with dismissal from the Canadian Forces.
Major Anthony Seward	Unlawfully Causing Bodily Harm Negligent Performance of Duties	Acquitted of unlawfully causing bodily harm. Found guilty of negligent performance of duty for giving instructions to abuse detainees, and sentenced to a severe reprimand. Prosecution appealed for a tougher sentence. Court Martial Appeal Court subsequently imposed a term of 3 months' imprisonment. Defense's appeal was declined. Seward was also dismissed from the Canadian Forces.
Capt. Michael Sox	Unlawfully Causing Bodily Harm Negligent Performance of Duties *Act to the Prejudice of Good Order and Discipline	Acquitted of unlawfully causing bodily harm. Convicted of negligent performance of duty. A stay of proceedings was entered on the charge of an act to the prejudice of good order and discipline. Sox was also demoted to lieutenant, and received a severe reprimand. Appeals by both sides were dismissed.
Lt. Col. Carol Mathieu	*Negligent Performance of Duties	Acquitted. The prosecution appealed the verdict, and the Appeal Court agreed to a new trial. Mathieu was also acquitted in the second trial.
Capt. Michel Rainville Michel Rainville Captain Rainville was a Canadian soldier who has courted controversy on several occasions for his orders leading to public outcry. He was ultimately acquitted of criminal charges for his actions, but released from military service.-Training exercises:...	Unlawfully Causing Bodily Harm Negligent Performance of Duties	Acquitted.
Sgt. Perry Gresty	*Negligent Performance of Duties	Acquitted.
Pte. David Brocklebank	Torture Negligent Performance of Duties	Acquitted on both charges. Prosecution's appeal was dismissed.

McAuliffe's request for documents

In September 1995, CBC

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

reporter Michael McAuliffe

Michael McAuliffe

Michael McAuliffe was a barman from Sydney who was hanged in Malaysia in June 1993 after serving eight years in jail for heroin trafficking....

requested access to 68 Response to Query forms to supplement his earlier informal gleanings about the Canadian military operation, but the documents were altered before being released to him, in order to make them agree with the information he'd been given earlier. In addition, invented financial charges were tagged onto his request, claiming that it had taken 413 man-hours and subsequently would cost McAuliffe $4,080, although the documents were in fact readily available.

While giving McAuliffe misinformation informally was not illegal, it was a crime for the government to release forged documents in response to an Access to Information

Access to Information Act

Access to Information Act or Information Act is a Canadian act providing the right of access to information under the control of a government institution...

request. The question quickly emerged of whether Chief of Defence Staff

Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada)

Jean Boyle

General Joseph Édouard Jean Boyle, CMM, CD is a former Canadian Chief of Defence Staff. He resigned in disgrace less than a year after his appointment, when it was revealed that he was involved in "almost every facet" of the attempt to manage the aftermath of the Somalia Affair, including the...

had known about the altering, and if he bore responsibility for it even if he were ignorant of his underlings' doings. On September 5, 1995, a clerk at the NDHQ was discovered collecting Somalia-related documents for a burn bag

Burn bag

A burn bag is the informal name given to a container that holds sensitive or classified documents which are to be destroyed by fire or pulping after a certain period of time...

to be destroyed. Boyle later concurred that there had been documents proving attempts to cover up details of both the May 4 and May 16 killings.

Somalia Inquiry

The public outcry against Arone's death didn't occur until November 1994, when a publication ban

Publication ban

A publication ban is a court order which prohibits the public or media from disseminating certain details of an otherwise public judicial procedure. In Canada, publication bans are most commonly issued when the safety or reputation of a victim or witness may be hindered by having their identity...

was lifted against the 16 photographs Brown had taken of the torture session and they were widely published in Canadian media.

The new government of Jean Chrétien

Jean Chrétien

Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....

's Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

initiated a highly visible Somalia Inquiry in 1994 under Federal Court Judge Gilles Létourneau. Officially known as the Somalia Commission of Inquiry, its hearings were broadcast daily in both languages, nationally.

As the inquiry unfolded, home videos of initiation

Initiation

Initiation is a rite of passage ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components...

rites in the CAR's French-speaking commando found their way into the media. The new Minister of National Defence David Collenette

David Collenette

David Michael Collenette, PC was a Canadian politician from 1974 to 2004, and a member of the Liberal Party of Canada. A graduate from York University's Glendon College in 1969, he subsequently received his MA from in 2004...

argued that the videos were disgusting, demeaning and racist. With the continued accumulation of such politically damaging visibility, the Minister of National Defence advised Governor General

Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

Roméo LeBlanc

Roméo-Adrien LeBlanc was a Canadian journalist, politician, and statesman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 25th since Canadian Confederation....

to disband the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1995. It has been suggested that this move was as much driven by budget cuts to the Canadian Forces as by the Somalia Affair, but there is no question that the affair gave the minister the public support needed to make his request for disbandment.

The Chief of the Defence Staff

Chief of the Defence Staff (Canada)

General John de Chastelain

John de Chastelain

Alfred John Gardyne Drummond de Chastelain is a retired Canadian soldier and diplomat.De Chastelain was born in Romania and educated in England and in Scotland before his family immigrated to Canada in 1954...

, who had not supported the minister's disbandment order of the Airborne, resigned under a cloud. His successor, Air Force General Jean Boyle

Jean Boyle

was forced to resign only a few months after accepting the role when, in a gesture uncharacteristic of military tradition, he blamed his subordinates for previous wrong doing under his command. Minister of National Defence

Minister of National Defence (Canada)

The Minister of National Defence is a Minister of the Crown; the Canadian politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the Department of National Defence which oversees the Canadian Forces....

David Collenette

was also forced to resign, partially due to the affair.

On April 8, 1996, Boyle called a halt to all normal duties and announced the entire Canadian military would begin searching for documents relating to Somalia.

The inquiry ran until 1997 when it was cut short by the government in the months before the 1997 election

Canadian federal election, 1997

The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...

. The government was critical of the direction of the inquiry, noting that it was far exceeding its mandate. Member of Parliament Art Eggleton

Art Eggleton

Arthur "Art" C. Eggleton, PC is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and Mayor of Toronto, and is currently a Senator representing Ontario.-City council:...

- who went on to become Minister of National Defence after the 1997 election - suggested that the events had happened four years earlier, and it was time to "move on".

Indeed, the conduct of the new government after the Somalia affair and the search for documents now absorbed much of the inquiry's attention, as reflected in its report. The inquiry had run long over its allotted timeframe and budget. The decision to end the inquiry received visible media attention and may have contributed to the defeat of the new Defence Minister Doug Young in the 1997 election. The inquiry was never able to examine top level governmental decision-making, nor did it actually examine the alleged events in Somalia.

The final report of the inquiry was a striking attack on the procedures, support and leadership of the Canadian Forces and the Ministry of Defence. Many of the top officers in the Canadian Forces were excoriated, including three separate Chiefs of the Defence Staff. The CAR had been rushed into a war zone with inadequate preparation or legal support. Enquiry observer retired Brigadier-General Dan Loomis noted that the operation had changed, in December 1992, "from a peacekeeping operation, where arms are used only in self-defence, to one where arms could be used proactively to achieve politico-military objectives...In short the Canadian Forces were being put on active service and sent to war (as defined by Chapter 7 of the UN Charter)." Its deployment into "war" had never been debated in parliament and indeed the Canadian public had been led to believe by its government that the CAR was on a "peacekeeping" mission. After the events the leaders of the Canadian Forces had been far more concerned with self-preservation than in trying to find the truth. The inquiry report singled out Major-General Lewis MacKenzie

Lewis MacKenzie

as a major exception, as he took full responsibility for any errors he made.

Aftermath of the Affair

The affair had a number of long lasting effects. While it is difficult to separate the effects of the affair on Canadian Forces morale from those of the concurrent defence spending cut, it did exacerbate feelings of distrust towards the media and politicians among many CF members.

At the same time, public trust in the Canadian Forces suffered and recruitment became more difficult. Public revulsion provided support for the sharp cuts to military spending introduced by the Liberal government. Many of the report's comments, along with the sustained media criticism of the military, led to the hasty imposition of policies designed to ensure nothing similar to the Somalia Affair could happen again. It has been argued that many of these practices, such as the micro-management of training, operations and disciplinary processes from NDHQ and the resultant restrictions on commanding officers, hamper the flexibility of operational units. Since the events in Somalia, Canada has become far less ready to participate in United Nations Peacekeeping efforts. Once playing an important role in the majority of UN efforts, in subsequent years Canada simply provided indirect support. Post 2001 though, spending on the Canadian Forces gradually increased and accelerated as Canada played a major role in Afghanistan. Concurrently public perception of the Canadian Forces improved dramatically as well.

In 1999, judge J. Douglas Cunningham dismissed an appeal for financial compensation by Arone's parents Abubakar Arone Rage and Dahabo Omar Samow, ruling that their use of a litigation guardian, Abdullahi Godah Barre, was inconsistent with the legal requirement, and they should have traveled to Canada to launch the suit themselves.

Brown later co-operated on a book in which it was suggested he had been made the scapegoat for the incident and the officers who had not intervened were not brought to justice.

Soldiers of other countries also faced charges of misconduct; American soldiers were involved in the deaths of three young boys in separate incidents, Pakistani troops were accused of a number of civilian deaths, and Belgian soldiers took photographs of themselves allegedly torturing a Somali to death.

Other long term effects on the Forces included the adoption of sensitivity training, including SHARP (Standard for Harassment and Racism Prevention) training, which became mandatory for every single member of the Forces, and was accompanied by a declaration of "zero tolerance" on racism and harassment of any kind, including hazing.

Some have suggested that Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

(RCMP) Commissioner Joseph Philip Robert Murray

Joseph Philip Robert Murray

Joseph Philip Robert Murray served as 19th Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, from June 23, 1994 - September 1, 2000....

was slated to be replaced, until Boyle was removed - making it difficult for the Prime Minister to simultaneously replace the head of the armed forces and the head of the federal police.

Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Intervention in the wake of The Somalia Affair

The notion of peacekeeping seems to be deeply embedded in Canadian culture and a distinguishing feature that Canadian’s feel sets their foreign policy apart from the likes of the United States. The Somalia commission wrote in 1997 that “Canada’s foreign policy with respect to peacekeeping has been consistent since Canadians embraced peacekeeping in the late 1950s”. Since the Suez Crisis, Canadian foreign policy has fit a peacekeeping rubric. Americans however were seen to fight wars, but Canadians pictured themselves as working for peace . Canada never had a reputation for starting wars but instead was seen to come to the aid of war torn countries.

The Somalia Affair came as such as surprise to the Canadian public as no one would have thought Canada’s golden reputation for international peacekeeping could be tarnished. The Somalia Affair and the ensuing commission of inquiry has become the subject of intense criticism and has given rise to a great deal of comparative theoretical work on humanitarian intervention and peacekeeping. In her book Sherene Razack asks if it was just a case of ‘a few bad apples’ in the Canadian forces, or if the Somalia Affair speaks to a larger issue on the complex nature of peacekeeping and humanitarian intervention . Thomas Weiss comments that the failures in Somalia have led to this concept of ‘Somalia Syndrome’: “multilateral interventions to thwart starvation, genocide, the forced movement of peoples, and massive violations of fundamental rights are no longer politically or operationally feasible” . Peacekeepers are more likely to be involved in peace enforcement in more warlike conditions as unlike traditional peacekeeping; there is not always consent from all the conflicting parties . Such was the case in Somalia as the men were hypervigilent with a sense of fear and frustration as they were trained for combat yet charged with providing humanitarian aid . Faced with this strong Somali opposition and resentment and yet being responsible for providing aid meant that Canadian peacekeepers “increasingly could not find meaning in their activities” There would be a ‘Somalia syndrome’ sentiment that would linger in the international community after the failures in the war torn country. Weiss however reminds us not to take Somalia out of context or draw upon the wrong lessons leading to isolationism or eschewing necessary humanitarian intervention. The debacle in Somalia would be so paralyzing that it would lead to an unwillingness from the international community to respond to future problems, like the Rwandan Genocide

Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

. The United States under the Clinton Administration would need to rethink its foreign policies and the rest of the world just did not want another Somalia Affair

The Somalia Affair thus had a direct impact on how the international community would make foreign policy with a crippling ‘Somalia syndrome’ that would lead to the sense of caution in intervening in the Rwanda Genocide and in the Balkans.

External links

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its members, Canada's private broadcasters....

, Canada AM: Airborne Hazing, complaint brought by a viewer to CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

's decision to broadcast hazing footage she deemed "too explicit".
CBC Archives - The Somalia Affair
Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Background

Canadian Airborne Regiment

Airborne in Somalia

March 4 killing

Death of Shidane Arone

Response

Legal proceedings

McAuliffe's request for documents

Somalia Inquiry

Aftermath of the Affair

Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Intervention in the wake of The Somalia Affair

See also

Further reading

External links