ROME - Italian soldiers serving in the 1993 UN humanitarian mission "Restore Hope" tortured Somali prisoners, according to a report carried in yesterday's Panorama magazine, Paddy Agnew reports.
The report claims to be based on the eyewitness testimony of Mr Michele Patruno (26), who served as a conscript with the 183rd Folgore Parachute regiment in Somalia and who substantiates his allegations with photographs he took himself during his tour of duty.
In the photographs, three Italian soldiers are seen applying electrodes to the genitals of an almost naked Somali man.
Mr Patruno said he was prompted to reveal his Somalia experiences after a Belgian military court opened an inquiry into similar allegations of torture by Belgian soldiers participating in the 1993 UN mission.