WHEN Canadian soldiers land in Zaire later this week to spearhead the UN rescue effort, they hope to do more than provide aid to thousands of hungry and homeless Rwandan refugees. The army is also seeking to restore its credibility among the Canadian public after a series of scandals during previous relief missions in Africa.
The abysmal behaviour of Canadian soldiers over the past three years has left a cloud over armed forces and resulted in the resignation last month of Canada's top commander, Gen Jean Boyle.
During a UN peacekeeping mission to Somalia in 1993, paratroopers from the elite Canadian Airborne Regiment tortured and killed a 16 year old Somali youth, who had wandered onto the Canadian compound. Smiling soldiers posed for pictures with the blindfolded and bloodied youth hours before he was found dead in the compound. Several of the soldiers were disciplined after court marshals and one is serving a five year prison sentence.
Soldiers also shot and killed three other Somali civilians during the mission. Some of the paratroopers were members of white supremacist groups and the regiment was rife with rogue soldiers. During a humanitarian relief effort to Rwanda after the 1994 genocide, two members of the airborne regiment cut themselves so severely in a blood brother ritual they had to be sent home because of unsanitary conditions in Rwanda. A few days later, paratroopers who were drinking on duty began shooting inside a convent they were supposed to be guarding.
The government disbanded the poorly disciplined regiment in 1995 after an amateur videotape showed drunken soldiers participating in violent and obscene initiation ceremonies. The videotape was broadcast around the world. Although the killings in Somalia occurred three years ago, a highly publicised inquiry into the events has kept details of the troops behaviour in front of the public over the past year.
The inquiry has also uncovered a plan by members of the military to destroy documents about the killings that had been requested by the Canadian media. Canada's Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien, whose nephew, Mr Raymond Chretien is the UN's special envoy in Rwanda, said last week that it was Canada's moral duty to lead the relief effort to help the refugees.
But political and military observers say Mr Chretien hopes the Canadian led mission will boost the morale of soldiers and officers who are dismayed over the public flogging that has been administered to the army. With a federal election expected next spring, they say he is using the opportunity to increase his popularity in the opinion polls. The government wants to lead this mission so the army can show the public it has cleaned up its act, said Mr Scott Young, editor of Esprit du Corps, Canada's top military magazine.
If it is very successful, it might also earn Mr Chretien a Nobel Peace Prize and that would help his career at the UN. In a telephone interview with The Irish Times, Mr Young said the living conditions in Zaire and Rwanda would test the character of Canadian soldiers. "It is hell on earth over there and it is not really the place these guys want to spend Christmas," he said. "Given what has happened in the past, the officers will ensure there is no breach of discipline."
Political observers say it is unlikely that Canadian troops will disgrace themselves because the man leading the multinational force is Lieut Gen Maurice Baril, who was assigned to restore the armed forces credibility after Somalia. Lieut Gen Baril (53), a popular French Canadian commander, has been praised for cracking down on poor leadership and dealing with disciplinary problems quickly. He is the favourite to replace Gen Boyle as the Canadian army's top general. "If the army comes home unscathed, he will be a hero," Mr Young said.