| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 8, 2014 Contact: Brian Purchia, brian@protectourdefenders.com *** PRESS RELEASE *** Protect Our Defenders had called on the Secretary of Defense and the President to take action against Franklin for months WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Air Force announced that Lt Gen Craig Franklin will be forced to retire. Franklin fueled calls for fundamental reform to our broken military justice system after he the convening authority overturned a sexual assault conviction at Aviano Air Base in Italy and freed fellow pilot, Lt Col James Wilkerson, reinstating him back into the Air Force against the recommendation of his own legal counsel. Franklin didn’t stop there. He recommended the perpetrator receive a promotion and worked to get him the assignment he desired. Afterwards, Franklin released a letter explaining his reasoning, which demonstrated an ignorance of the facts and a bias towards Wilkerson, who he described as a “doting father and husband.” Last month, Stars & Stripes broke the news that Franklin that Franklin decided not to seek a court-martial in another sexual assault case at Aviano and was removed from the case. Franklin will now be allowed to retire with benefits, while those that supported his decision remain in the military. For months, Protect Our Defenders called for the removal of Wilkerson and Franklin from the military with protests and petitions on Causes.com. Wilkerson was forced to retire at a reduced rank last year. “Military leadership supported Franklin for far too long. While he should have been removed a year ago, it is good to hear that they finally have done the right thing. It’s a shame another victim was treated to Franklin’s selective reasoning and denied the opportunity to speak directly with the convening authority. Franklin’s ongoing actions are only the tip of the iceberg. He is but one high profile example of a problem that pervades a biased and unprofessional military justice system,” said Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders. “We hope today’s announcement brings some comfort to the Aviano victims and their families. They and so many others have been forced to pay a heavy price for the failures of this Congress and this President to provide our service members with an unbiased, professional military justice system. Franklin and his biased actions illustrate why over 90% of the estimated 26,000 victims in 2012 never reported their attacks. We have a system where one conflicted and often biased individual, the accused’s commander, has the authority to exercise their unilateral opinion, regardless of the evidence, on whether a case is objectively investigated and tried, and whether the perpetrator receives just punishment. Following Franklin’s decision to overturn the sexual assault conviction of Wilkerson, Protect Our Defenders brought the Aviano victim to privately meet with elected officials ahead of a March 2013 Senate hearing on the ongoing epidemic and her case. The advocacy group also held a protest outside Davis-Monthan Air Force Base calling for the removal of the two officers, when Wilkerson was re-assigned to the victim’s family’s hometown. “Franklin’s reckless disregard for the safety of those who worked and served at Aviano is typical of the military’s extremely biased and broken justice system. It must be fixed. The actions that Franklin took in my case, and in the more recent case is the reason that in 2012 it is estimated that over 90% of victims did not even report their attacks. Who can blame them?,” said Kim Hanks, a victim in the Aviano scandal. “When I first reported my assault at Aviano, I endured eight months of public humiliation, saw my name dragged through the mud, and many in the chain of command publicly sided with my attacker before, during and after his trial. They did their best to trash my character. The entire time they kept pulling the ‘good ole boys’ routine, expecting to just get away with it. “We need fundamental reform. My case would not have moved forward without the perseverance of the prosecutors. Military prosecutors not commanders should decide to whether to move forward to trial. By forcing Franklin to retire — it shows the American public that the Air Force knows it’s own justice system is flawed. Commanders do not need this duty and have shown time and time again they do not handle it well. “The tragedy that continues to play out because of the dysfunctional military justice system is that senior officers who otherwise appear to perform their primary duties as warriors well are not equipped to objectively handle these cases. Their often inherent biases and conflicts of interest not only damage unit cohesion and harm mission readiness, they can damage the careers of commanders who might in other respects be capable leaders and of value to our military.” After Franklin’s decision on the first Aviano case, calls quickly grew to remove the commander’s authority to overturn verdicts, which the Defense Department recently agreed to adopt. However, commanders still have authority over these cases, including the ability to reduce sentences at their discretion – a remaining danger to justice and potentially as damaging as overturning a conviction. Members of Congress, from both parties condemned Franklin’s action. “Franklin clearly substituted his own independent judgment for that of the convened fact-finding panel,” said Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “This [Franklin’s explanation] letter, is filled with selective reasoning and assumptions from someone with no legal training, and it’s appalling that the reasoning spelled out in the letter served as the basis to overturn a jury verdict in this case,” said Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO). More than seven months ago, Wilkerson’s victim asked the Air Force to provide documents surrounding the trial and post-trial activities. The military failed to comply with multiple legal deadlines. It was only after Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) stepped in and demanded a response that the documents were finally released. The recently released emails sent a chilling reminder to victims of sexual assault in our military, who may be thinking about coming forward, that military brass will go to extreme lengths to protect the status quo. In the emails, pleas from the Commander of the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano, Brig Gen Scott Zobrist, who was Wilkerson’s base commander, urging Franklin to not overturn Wilkerson’s aggravated sexual assault conviction were ignored. “That would be absolutely devastating in so many ways that I cannot even begin to consider it,” Zobrist wrote in a Feb. 19, 2013 email. “Having Wilkerson back on active duty at Aviano, even for one day, would… have a huge negative impact on morale, send a very negative message about how seriously we take sexual assault in the AF, and potentially call into question the effectiveness of our UCMJ system in general.” Franklin dismissed the warnings and instead got support from his chain of command to dismiss the jury’s findings and toss out the conviction. In email exchanges, the Air Force Commander in Europe, Gen Philip Breedlove stated that he agreed with Franklin regarding overturning the conviction. General Breedlove wrote, “He [Franklin] and I have discussed in depth the meaning and the possible blow back. I stand behind his decision.” [Click here for more excerpts from the FOIA release.] Furthermore, on March 15, 2013 Breedlove defended Franklin’s actions and criticized the prosecution and the court in front of 500 majors, rising Commanders. With Breedlove’s blessing, Franklin set aside justice and started a full court press to get Wilkerson promoted and flying again. “I intend to get him back to a flying assignment ASAP (away from Aviano.) Please make sure Col Wilkerson knows he can contact me or his OG…about the way ahead for his next assignment,” wrote Franklin. “Getting him reunited with is family is the priority for the next few days. Certainly after he and [his wife] have had a chance to discuss it, we will see what he wants to do next.” This mockery of justice created an international uproar and calls for fundamental reforms to the broken military justice system. In 2013, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA) to move the decision to prosecute and adjudicate sexual assault cases from an often-biased chain of command — a step toward creating an independent and impartial military justice system. This common sense reform has widespread bipartisan backing, with 53 senators publicly supporting the bill, including Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). A vote on the bill is expected early this year. On the House side, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) has introduced the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act). This bill removes the 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. 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 similar systems. Last year, Paul Cronan, director-general of the Australian Defence Force Legal Service who was asked to testify at a hearing on the epidemic said they faced 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 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 – 60% stated they were retaliated against. “Our service members deserve an independent and impartial justice system equal the system afforded to the civilians they protect. As Franklin’s flawed judgment clearly showed, professional military prosecutors, not the accused’s commander, should decide whether to move forward to trial. And, commanders should no longer be allowed to over ride the decisions of military juries,” said Parrish. “There should also be consequences for General Breedlove who supported Franklin’s baseless decision to overturn Wilkerson’s conviction.Franklin failed to promote ‘good order and discipline’ and allowed his bias and conflict of interest to undermine justice. This case is a perfect example of why the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in our military is pervasive and ongoing.” — Air Force Times: Air Force removes Lt. Gen. Franklin from sexual assault case http://www.stripes.com/news/air-force-removes-lt-gen-franklin-from-sexual-assault-case-1.258268 Air Force Times: Lt. col. granted clemency in sex assault case to retire as major http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20131017/NEWS/310170022/Lt-col-granted-clemency-sex-assault-case-retire-major Protect Our Defenders Point by Point Rebuttal of Gen Franklin’s 18 Reasons for Overturning Col Wilkerson’s Sexual Assault Conviction San Antonio Express-News: Hagel misses important opportunity Stars & Stripes: Emails show general warned against reversing Wilkerson verdict http://www.stripes.com/news/emails-show-general-warned-against-reversing-wilkerson-verdict-1.238114 Associated Press: Air Force Officer Transfer Draws Protest http://bigstory.ap.org/article/air-forces-officer-transfer-draws-ariz-protest 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. ### |