By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 3, 1997; Page A22

Canadian peacekeeping troops in Somalia were "victimized" by commanders who sent them into the field unprepared and ignored problems developing in an airborne regiment until they escalated into the torture and killing of a Somali teenager, a commission established to review the country's troubled 1992-93 African mission has concluded.

Far from being the fault of "a few bad apples," the events in Somalia reflected "systemic, organizational and leadership failures" in the command structure of the Canadian Defense Forces, the commission's chairman, Justice Gilles Letourneau, said today during an Ottawa news conference at which the study was released.

Defense Minister Art Eggleton immediately criticized the report as overly harsh and "insulting," comments that reflect ongoing controversy over Canada's response to the Somalia affair. Eggleton and a predecessor who cut off the commission's work at its most sensitive stage contend that Canada's military already learned from its mistakes in Somalia and should be allowed to "put the past to rest."

However, after a two-year investigation into an episode that stained Canada's image as global keeper of the peace, the commission asserted that the military's problems run far deeper than the country's political and military leaders have admitted.

The problems were evident from the start of Canada's involvement in Somalia, according to the report, when senior officials overlooked known discipline problems in the airborne regiment and assigned it to the mission without proper training or preparation for peacekeeping in the midst of a civil war. They continued in the field, where officers ignored incidents of "thuggery" and improper use of weapons among the troops. When two Somali youths were shot in the back after apparently trying to steal supplies from a Canadian base, the incident was ruled to be within the "rules of engagement," even though a military doctor said he thought a criminal investigation was needed.

And ultimately, the commission found, the problems continued as senior officers tried to manipulate information to play down the incidents in Somalia, and later lied to the commission – alleged misdeeds attributed to "rampant careerism" in Canadian defense headquarters.

"We found deep legal and moral failings," Letourneau said. "There is no doubt that senior officers did lie. . . . Do we want a military that harbors people that are willing to go under oath and lie?"

The commission's report, titled "Dishonoured Legacy," included recommendations that the military police and justice system be placed under independent command and that an inspector general be established to investigate military operations.

"Our recommendations are concerned with ensuring that Canadian military personnel will never again be sent on hastily formed, ill-conceived missions that lack clear objectives," Letourneau said.

The members of the airborne regiment responsible for the torture killing of Shidane Arone, a Somali teenager, were prosecuted; a private was convicted of manslaughter, and a sergeant attempted suicide before facing trial. Letourneau said today that it was unlikely that any further charges would be filed in connection with peacekeepers' deeds.

Canada is among several countries whose peacekeeping troops are suspected of abusing the people they were sent to assist as part of a multinational force sent to war-torn, famine-ravaged Somalia. Italy and Belgium are in the early stages of inquiries into the conduct of their peacekeepers.

It is unclear how much weight defense officials will give to today's report. The commission has been at odds with the government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien since its investigation contributed last year to the resignations of Canada's chief of defense staff and a defense minister.

Eggleton said the commission's recommendations will be reviewed, but added that most "are already being addressed."