PRESS RELEASE: Protect Our Defenders Promises to Keep Up Fight For Fundamental Reform to Fix Broken Justice System, Support Military Sexual Assault Survivors and Improve Our Military
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2013
Contact: Brian Purchia, brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** PRESS RELEASE ***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS PROMISES TO KEEP UP FIGHT FOR FUNDAMENTAL REFORM TO FIX BROKEN JUSTICE SYSTEM, SUPPORT MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS AND IMPROVE OUR MILITARY
Group vows to continue fight to end epidemic of military sexual assault, put pressure on military commanders, Congress, and President Obama to enact fundamental reform to fix military justice system by removing the decision making of sexual assault cases from an often-bias and conflicted chain of command
Washington DC – Late Monday, Congress announced an agreement on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) without giving the only measure that would address the core issue fueling the epidemic of military sexual assault a vote, the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA). The common sense, bipartisan effort — supported by 6 out of 10 Americans if passed, would be the critical step in the creation of an independent and impartial justice system that will protect victims of sexual assault in our military and make our armed forces stronger. The legislation introduced by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) would remove the decision to prosecute rape and sexual assault cases from a conflicted and often-biased chain of command, and put it into the hands of independent prosecutors.
“We are disappointed that this bipartisan, common sense legislation will not be included in this year’s NDAA. But, Protect Our Defenders would like to applaud Senators Gillibrand and all 53 Senators who support MJIA, the retired generals and senior officers, and more importantly the hundreds of survivors and their families who have fought so hard to bring fundamental reform to a broken military legal system. We will get a vote on the bill,” said Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders. “Instead of listening to our veterans, those who were sexual assault victims and then subjected to retaliation by their chain of command — Congress has decided to stand with the status quo and the hollow Pentagon promises of ‘zero tolerance’ – instead of including the MJIA in the 2014 NDAA.’”
Just this week, Doonesbury creator, Garry Trudeau, summed up perfectly why we need to fundamentally reform our broken military justice system in his latest comic:
The MJIA has widespread bipartisan backing, with 53 senators publicly supporting the bill, including Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). Former generals, the leading veterans groups and DACOWITS, an official Pentagon advisory group have all come out in support of this common sense reform.
Despite decades of failure to fix a broken system and countless military sexual abuse scandals from Tailhook in 1992 to Aberdeen to Lackland to the ongoing Naval Academy scandal and scathing investigative reports that illustrate the core issue (They Accused superiors of assault & harassment: Now their careers are over, The U.S. military’s enemy within, Twice Betrayed, Chain of Command) – Congress has failed to effectively tackle this crisis.
“We have come too far in our fight to effectively address the crisis of military sexual assault and subsequent victim retaliation to stop now. We see this as a minor setback on the road to fundamental reform. Justice delayed is justice denied, so we will fight on. Service men and women deserve a professional and unbiased justice system equal the system afforded to the civilians they protect. We plan to utilize all the energy and support we have gained over the past several months to get a vote on the bill, and continue our fight against a status quo that keeps the authority to handle the prosecution and adjudication of sexual assault cases within the accused’s chain of command,” said Parrish. “At the heart of this debate is providing a just, professional and impartial legal system for our service members. We will not stop until the handling of rape and sexual assault cases in the military are taken out of the chain of command and placed in the hands of independent prosecutors.”
Pentagon officials have furiously objected to the creation of an independent and impartial justice system, saying it will negatively impact “good order and discipline,” even though there is no evidence of this from our many allies with systems similar to that proposed by MJIA. In fact, the evidence speaks to the opposite — the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the U.S. military and broken military justice system undermines “good order and discipline” by eroding trust within the unit. Earlier this year, the director-general of the Australian Defence Force Legal Service, Paul Cronan who was asked to testify at a hearing on the epidemic said they had faced the same set of arguments from military leaders.
“It’s a little bit like when we opened up [to] gays in military in the late ’80s,” Cronan said. “There was a lot of concern at that time that there’d be issues. But not surprisingly, there haven’t been any.”
According to the Pentagon’s own 2012 SAPRO report, 25% of victims indicated the offender is someone in their chain of command. Fifty percent of female victims stated they did not report the crime because they believed nothing would be done. Of those few who did report – 62% stated they were retaliated against.
On the House side, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) has introduced the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act). This bill removes authority for handling these cases from the chain of command. The legislation currently has 148 co-sponsors. Thus far the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has failed to allow the bill to come before the committee for a vote.
In 2012 alone, an estimated 26,000 men and women in the military experienced rape, sexual assault and other sex crimes. According to the Pentagon’s 2012 SAPRO report, 25 percent of those victims indicated the offender is someone in their chain of command. Of the estimated 26,000 cases, over 90 percent were never reported, with over 50 percent of victims stating that fear of retaliation kept them from coming forward. For those brave service members who did come forward to file a report, 62 percent say they experienced retaliation as a result of reporting their attack.
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New York Daily News: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s legislation to curb sexual assaults in military not part of defense bill
Politico: Questions linger for compromise defense bill
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/questions-linger-for-compromise-defense-bill-100935.html
Slate: Goodbye to George III
New York Times: Reports of Military Sexual Assault Rise Sharply
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/us/reports-of-military-sexual-assault-rise-sharply.html?_r=0
Protect Our Defenders 2013 Media Report
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/protect-our-defenders-2013-media-report
Politico: Air Force lawyers draw fire over sexual assault policy
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/10/air-force-lawyers-sexual-assault-policy-99099.html
Military Times: Pentagon advisory panel: Strip commanders’ ability to prosecute sexual assaults
San Antonio Express-News: Hagel misses important opportunity
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.
Protect Our Defenders partners with Attorney Susan Burke, Burke PLLC to advance lawsuits filed against the DoD and service academies for repeatedly ignoring rape, sexual assault and harassment, failing to prosecute perpetrators and retaliating against the victim.
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