[Global Times Special Correspondent in Australia Dacho] The Australian Defence Force’s “torture” training has been questioned, causing many soldiers to suffer serious physical and psychological injuries. The British Guardian reported on November 30 that at least 45 Australian Defence Force soldiers committed suicide after receiving “captured training”.
In questioned by the investigation committee, Colonel Simon Dawes of the Australian Defense Intelligence Academy said that the “capitivity training” aims to enable soldiers to deal with the situation of hostage-taking. Dawes said that since 2001, the Australian Defence Force has never studied whether participating in this training will lead to an increase in the suicide rate among soldiers.
Dawess also revealed that soldiers are required to sign a consent form before participating in the training, which says, “I will receive simulation training similar to that of prisoners”, including “take off my clothes”. When investigators asked Dowther whether the training included other projects that made the trainees “more painful”, Dawes avoided that he would not answer the question of providing control to Australian opponents.
In September this year, a former AF soldier named De Paier publicly accused the “capture training” that “capture training” included many shocking acts of torture and humiliation, such as asking trainees to simulate the rape of young girls and dolls.
According to The Guardian, the Australian Defence Force has been implementing the training program since 2001 and divided it into three levels: A, B and C. Among them, the highest-level C-level training is the most controversial, especially the criticized simulated interrogation. DePyle said that 45 suicides were “extremely tragic” and that he had complained to the Australian Human Rights Commission and was ready to file a lawsuit with the Australian Federal Court.
In addition, a veteran named Kilke also complained that the harsh training of the Australian Defence Force led to the suicide of many recruits. Kilke said that he and other recruits of the Australian National Defense Academy were injured by extreme training methods, resulting in hallucinations or suicidal tendencies, and that “some of the youngest, smartest, most motivated and promising people” ended their lives. Kirk also said that many recruits have self-harm behavior, and “everyone’s mental health is deteriorating.” However, the instructor told the recruit that this was a normal result of high-intensity training and asked the recruit not to report psychological problems or they would be fired. Caldas, the head of the commission of inquiry, said that there are likely to be risk factors leading to military suicide during the recruitment and training of recruits.
According to The Guardian, as early as 2005, soldiers complained about the training and demanded that it be reformed to ensure that no one would end their lives due to trauma. Investigators said that the training plan was a “national tragedy” and had been hidden from the public for too long.
