More than a dozen Bermuda Regiment soldiers have made allegations of sexual abuse or harassment in the last two decades, The Royal Gazette has discovered.

But requests for information to determine the true scale of the problem at Warwick Camp have been refused by new commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Brian Gonsalves.

He told this newspaper he would not release statistics on the number of accusations made during the Regiment's 44-year history because there have been so few and it is not a problem for the Island's conscripted army.

But he warned that abuse of soldiers would not be tolerated on his watch, adding that the Regiment has strict procedures for dealing with members who misbehave, whatever their rank.

The Royal Gazette asked Lt. Col. Gonsalves for the figures in connection with an ongoing investigation we are conducting, which has so far uncovered evidence of 13 allegations made by former soldiers.

"I would rather not report on that," said the commanding officer (CO). "It's not something that the public needs to know. It's not a problem.

"The very few that I have heard about have been dealt with and that's all I can say.

"There is nothing that we are hiding. We are not being inundated. There is no need to keep statistics."

He added: "Because we don't have many, there is no need to have statistics. If it was a problem and it's happened on a regular basis, we may need to keep regular statistics.

"We don't give out figures. It's not something I want to divulge, on a sort of need-to-know basis.

"I challenge you to go to any other organisation on this Island and you will get the same answer."

This newspaper's A Right To Know: Giving People Power campaign calls on publicly-funded bodies to be more transparent and give the public access to information that affects their lives.

We believe that young men who are eligible to be conscripted to the Regiment should have the right to be told about statistics on sexual assault allegations and the outcome of any investigations at Warwick Camp, as should their parents.

Taxpayers also ought to be able to ask questions and get answers from organisations they fund.

Lt. Col. Gonsalves, who became CO in June and has been an officer since 1989, said the most recent of the 13 allegations referred to in this article were made at the start of this decade, long before he took over as commander, and were dealt with.

He added that he would swiftly deal with accusations made while he is in charge.

"Under my watch, watch out," said the CO. "I will take this very seriously. In fact, my whole team takes this very seriously and it will not be tolerated. However, it will be investigated properly.

"We are not going to fire off any disciplinary actions or anything like that before we know what has happened."

Lt. Col. Gonsalves added: "Bermuda needs to know we take our job serious.

"The Regiment is a very professional organisation and we are working very hard to maintain that standard.

"If anybody has done any wrongdoing, we want to make sure it's investigated properly. We want to get to the bottom of what has happened and [see] whether we need to fix a procedure or someone has done something wrong and they should be disciplined."

The CO said the Regiment had a duty to rigorously investigate all abuse claims from soldiers and had to ensure they were telling the truth and not trying to simply shirk their mandatory military duty.

"As you can appreciate, we have some very devious people on this Island," he said. "If you don't want to be somewhere, you are going to fabricate something. We need to get to the bottom of the issue first."

He said the Regiment drew its members from all sectors of society and had the same potential for problems as any other organisation on the Island.

"We are different in the sense that we have young Bermudians in our care," he said. "We need to be aggressive about treating them properly and with respect. We want people to join us."

Lt. Col. Gonsalves explained that a soldier with a complaint of abuse would first go to the head of his company, who would submit a report, which would eventually reach the CO.

He said there was no provision under the Defence Act 1965 to court martial soldiers accused of crimes.

"Instead, the CO convenes an appointed panel to hold an internal private hearing, known as a board of inquiry. The minutes of such hearings are not made public.

The panel, made up of at least three senior soldiers, goes back to the CO with recommendations once it has confirmed whether wrongdoing has taken place.

Lt. Col. Gonsalves said the CO would normally act on the recommendations, but has little power to discipline an officer.

Instead, if a soldier of high rank is found guilty of a military crime — such as ill-treatment of a subordinate — or other charge, it is up to the Governor, the Regiment's commander-in-chief, to deal with it.

l Are you a current or former Regiment soldier who has suffered sexual abuse or harassment at Warwick Camp? If so, we want to hear from you. Call reporter Sam Strangeways on 278-0155 or e-mail sstrangeways@royalgazette.bm. Any information you provide will be treated in confidence.