© Hannibal Hanschke / Reuters
Recruits and service personnel have been subjected to humiliating acts, violent rituals and sexual abuse at an elite military base in southern Germany, according to a report first published by
Der Spiegel daily and later confirmed by the German military.
"Sexual abuse and sadistic actions" were "common practice" during a medical training course named "Combat First Responder" which recruits from all military branches had to attend at the Pfullendorf military base in Baden-Wuertemberg,
Der Spiegel reported citing an internal military investigation that was kept secret.
The investigation was triggered in October 2016 after a female officer addressed the German parliamentary commissioner for the army, Hans-Peter Bartels as well as the German Defense Minister, Ursula von der Leyen.
The female lieutenant complained that she had to go through various humiliating and degrading exercises and rituals during her medical training at the base.
The recruits were forced to get naked in front of the fellow service members while other soldiers were filming them, she said at that time, according to
Der Spiegel.
The soldiers attending the course also had to take part in "absolutely senseless and apparently sexually motivated medical exercises" that involved
soldiers inserting roller bandages into their anuses. Both male and female recruits had to go through this. Such "drills" were also photographed, the officer added.
The officer's complaint prompted an internal investigation into the matter that confirmed all the officer's statements,
Der Spiegel reports. The investigators also found that
the violations at the base were not limited to degrading training exercises, but also included violent and humiliating rituals for new recruits.
Comment: The US and UK have mostly turned a blind eye to the Saudi war crimes in Yemen as they have both been making billions from arms sales.