Home · War & Conflict · Peacekeeping · The Somalia Affair
Topic spans: 1992 - 1997
The Somalia Affair
Canadian peacemakers were lauded as heroes when they went into an untamed land ruled by rebels. Their mission, Operation Deliverance, charged them with restoring order in Somalia. But in fact, the Canadian Airborne regiment was splitting apart at the seams, lacking both leadership and accountability. Murder after murder, the troops came home disgraced. Tracks were covered and responsibility shifted up and down the chain of command during an investigation that would dismantle the army and implicate the government in a high-level cover-up.
Photo of Canadian aid worker with Somali child by Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press.
20 television clips
3 radio clips
'Bloody and contemptuous images'
Broadcast Date: Jan. 19, 1995
It's coming in waves now, embarrassing revelation after revelation. Just after the release of disturbing home videos shot by Canadian soldiers in Somalia, comes this — brutal home movies shot during military hazing rituals. Soldiers are shown eating feces and engaging in imitated acts of sodomy. One black soldier has "KKK" smeared onto his back with feces. In this commentary, the CBC's Rex Murphy describes the sorry state of the Airborne division. "We promised them peacekeepers," he says angrily, "and in some cases, we sent them thugs."'Bloody and contemptuous images'
• On Jan. 23, 1995 it was publicly announced that the Airborne Regiment would be shut down. Feeling that the unit's image was too sullied to recover, the government gave final orders to disband and disperse the soldiers into other regiments across the country. The regiment shut down on March 5, 1995. It was the first time a Canadian military unit had been broken in disgrace.• Christopher Robin, the black soldier in the hazing videos, testified at the Somalia Inquiry that the proceedings during the hazing ritual were all in good fun and not truly racist.
'Bloody and contemptuous images'
Medium: Television
Program: Prime Time News
Broadcast Date: Jan. 19, 1995
Guest(s):
Host: Rex Murphy
Duration: 4:05
Last updated:
Oct. 23, 2009
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23 clips in this topic . page
Television
1:59
Nov. 17, 1994
Allegations of violence and an organized cover-up spark a public inquiry into the treatment of Somalis by Canadian soldiers.
'Bloody and contemptuous images'.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Oct. 23, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 15, 2012.]