‘Nonnismo’ Triggers Public Outcry : Hazing in Italian Military Blamed for Nine Suicides

On a warm day in May, Italian airman Michele Giorgetti went off guard duty, locked himself in a barracks bathroom and fired a burst from his submachine gun through his heart. He was 19.

A short time later, army Pvt. Angelo De Francesco lay down in a city fountain and drowned. He was 20.

On Aug. 15, another young conscript dropped dead on an endurance course.

The fatalities, just the most recent of 10 deaths in the last few months, have all been linked to hazing by senior personnel.

Relatives and leftist politicians say nonnismo --bullying by seasoned army “grandfathers”--of recruits have caused at least nine recent suicides this year in Italy’s 270,000-member army.

Playing ‘Thermometer’

The Assn. of Relatives of Dead Servicemen, a watchdog organization, predicts as many as 18 draftees will have killed themselves by the end of the year. Activities cited by the group include:

- Playing “thermometer”: A game in which a new recruit must stand naked outside during the winter until he guesses the temperature. Only one guess is allowed every 15 minutes.

- Stripping recruits down to their combat boots and forcing them to sit atop lockers and sing army songs for hours.

- Insisting that recruits on home leave return with gifts of wine and food.

Statistics Cited

In one response to the hazing, Defense Minister Giovanni Spadolini announced “operation open barracks.” Camps throughout the nation will be opened for visits each Sunday by mothers and other relatives anxious about conscripts’ welfare.

Spadolini says the outcry is out of proportion to the problem, citing suicide statistics from other military forces.

In 1985 there were 4.4 suicides for every 100,000 Italian soldiers, he told La Republica newspaper. In West Germany the figure was 21, in Portugal, 20, and in France, 11. The figure for the 2.1-million-member U.S. military in 1985 was about 12 suicides per 100,000.

Confidence Shared

“It seems too simple. But these numbers are significant,” Spadolini said.

NATO officials seem to share Spadolini’s confidence about the state of the armed forces in this strategic Mediterranean nation, which is gearing for a possible attack from Libya rather than concentrating on the traditionally vulnerable northern front.

NATO sources denied a report there was widespread concern in the alliance about nonnismo in Italy’s armed forces.

“The commies have succeeded in placing a lot of people in the press who want to make trouble for the defense ministry and the military establishment,” snorted one NATO source in Naples, who asked not to be identified.

‘Dying in the Barracks’

Spadolini’s critics seem oblivious to the situation outside Italy. The 140,000 member Housewives’ Federation flatly demanded the minister resign.

“Our boys are dying in the barracks. Spadolini does nothing,” a spokeswoman said.

“Before thinking about more aircraft carriers and ‘Star Wars,’ the defense minister should concern himself with the safety of young draftees,” said a spokesman for the left-wing Proletarian Democracy Party.

Proletarian Democracy and Italy’s Communist Party, the largest Marxist party in western Europe, want sweeping reforms of the system. They remain in favor of conscription, however. Communist officials say a professional army would be much more likely to help topple an elected leftist government.

Professionals Sought

By contrast, the neo-fascist Italian Social Movement, founded by followers of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, want to abolish the draft and train more professionals. The tiny but vocal Radical Party agrees.

Some senior military planners also agree. But a bill to amend the draft and hire tens of thousands of volunteers on renewable three-year contracts is making painfully slow progress in Parliament.

Spadolini is determined to restore the image of the military, which until a short time ago basked in the success of an Italian contingent’s peacekeeping efforts at Palestinian camps in Lebanon. Spadolini has declared war on draft dodging, widely believed to be common among sons of the rich.