STATEMENT: Protect Our Defenders Calls UCMJ Proposed Article 60 Reform Insufficient
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 9, 2013
Contact: Brian Purchia, , brian@protectourdefenders.com
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS CALLS UCMJ PROPOSED ARTICLE 60 REFORM INSUFFICIENT — WILL NOT END SEXUAL ASSAULT EPIDEMIC
Protect Our Defenders calls for Gen. Franklin to be held accountable for his actions
Washington DC – Today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced two changes to Article 60 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) that gives officers who convene courts-martial the ability to dismiss verdicts of court-martial juries. Sec. Hagel announced that Commanders will no longer be able to overturn a guilty verdict in sexual assault convictions, but can still reduce a sentence. Another proposed change would require commanders “to explain in writing any changes made to court martial sentences.”
These changes come in response to outcry from the scandal at Aviano Air Base. Lt. General Franklin overturned the sexual assault conviction of Lt. Col. Wilkerson at Aviano, who had been sentenced to a year in prison and dismissed from the armed forces by a jury of officers, without explanation and against the recommendation of his legal counsel. Protect Our Defenders called on Sec. Hagel to hold Gen Franklin accountable for his actions.
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish released the following statement about the proposed changes to Article 60 of the UMCJ.
“The Aviano case has shown the world that our military’s justice system is fundamentally flawed. Article 60 in the UCMJ is only one part of much larger fundamental problems. Today’s proposed changes from the Pentagon fall short of the necessary fixes to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military. The military has always contended that incidences like Aviano are extremely rare and we have never disputed that. But, we have always contended that the more insidious problem is that convening authorities can and frequently do unilaterally lessen sentences and today’s announcement does not change this. JAGS we have spoken with confirm this is too often the case.
Commanders now have the power to reduce any sentence for any reason or no reason. Under the current proposal of retaining clemency, this will not change. In the Aviano case, rather than setting LT. Col. Wilkerson’s sexual assault conviction aside Lt. General Franklin could have simply reduced the sentence to no punishment.
From the survivors we talk with Secretary Hagel’s additional proposed change that commanders be required to provide a written explanation as to why their perpetrator’s sentence was lessened unilaterally will be of no comfort to them.
This still constitutes an extraordinary power resting in the hands of one person with no equivalent in the civilian criminal justice system.
For the system to be legitimate — the reporting, investigation and adjudication must be taken completely out of the chain of command if we are to avoid another case like Aviano or the ongoing sexual abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base.”
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AP: US officials: Hagel moving to strip commanders’ ability to reverse criminal convictions
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Statement from Aviano Victim:
http://www.
Stars & Stripes: Hagel orders review of UCMJ after Wilkerson sex assault case
http://www.stripes.com/news/
Washington Post: Air Force general’s reversal of pilot’s sexual-assault conviction angers lawmakers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
New York Times: Hagel to Open Review of Sexual Assault Case
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/
Wired Magazine: Air Force’s Accountability for Sexual Assault: Not Promoting Convicted Officer
http://www.wired.com/
NBC News: Civil Rights Commission urged to order audit of military sex-assault cases
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_
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/
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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