Col. Ann Wright: Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?

[babylonsister]

Sexual Assault in the Military: A DoD Cover-Up?

Posted on Aug 1, 2008

Col. Ann Wright


There was quite a struggle in Congress this week. The Department of Defense refused to allow the senior civilian in charge of its Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) to testify in Thursday’s hearing on sexual assault in the military. Rep. John Tierney, chair of the House Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, angrily dismissed Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Michael Dominguez from the hearing when Dominguez said that he, the DoD chief of legislative affairs and the chief of public affairs, had ordered Dr. Kaye Whitley, chief of SAPRO, to refuse to honor the subpoena issued by the subcommittee for her appearance.

Full committee Chairman Henry Waxman called the DoD’s decision to prevent Whitley from testifying “ridiculous and indicating DoD is covering something up.” It could also place Whitley in contempt of Congress. Rep. Christopher Shays said the DoD’s decision was “foolish.”

One of the questions that would have been put to Whitley was why DoD had taken three years to name a 15-person civilian task force to look into allegations of sexual assault of military personnel. The panel was finally named early in 2008 but has yet to meet. She would have also been queried on the SAPRO program’s failure to require key information from the military in order to evaluate the effectiveness of sexual assault prevention and response programs.

I spoke with Dr. Whitley in April 2007 and had asked for an appointment to bring to her office four military women who had been sexually assaulted and wanted to tell her in what ways the DoD programs to prevent sexual assault were not working. Whitley declined, saying she worked at the policy level, and steered me to the chief of the Army sexual assault program. I called the Army program’s chief, who initially said she would talk to our group. However, when I mentioned that the mother of Army Spc. Suzanne Swift, who had been raped in Iraq, would be with us, she said she could not meet with anyone involved with an ongoing case. I replied that Swift’s case was closed as far as the Army was concerned. Her rapist had not been prosecuted, and Swift ended up with a court-martial and 30 days of jail time because she had gone AWOL for her own protection when the Army would not move her out of the unit to which both she and her rapist were still assigned. In view of the fact that the Army chief of prevention of sexual assault refused to meet with any of the four women who had suggestions on how to improve prevention and reporting of sexual assault and rape, I’m not surprised that the DoD snubbed Congress over the same issue.

Rep. Elijah Cummings joined Rep. Waxman in speaking of cover-ups. Cummings raised the cases of military women who had been sexually assaulted before dying in “non-combat incidents.” He spoke specifically about Army Pfc. LaVena Johnson, who was found beaten and dead of a gunshot wound at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in a burning tent owned by the contractor KBR. Her parents suspected that Johnson had been murdered and that the homicide was being covered up by the Army, which deemed the death a suicide. Cummings also spoke of Army Pfc. Tina Priest, who was raped at Taji, Iraq, and found dead 10 days later of a gunshot wound. After her family had measurements taken of her arms and of the angle of the bullet and found that she could not have pulled the trigger of her M-16 with her finger, the Army said she had pulled the trigger by using her toe. Cummings asked Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, chief of U.S. Army personnel, for assistance in getting all the documents the Army had on Johnson’s death. Additionally, four House members have asked for congressional hearings on the deaths of military personnel who have been classified as suicides, among them LaVena Johnson.

more...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080801_sexual_assault_in_the_military_a_dod_cover_up/

[EFerrari]

1. Ann did a segment on this with Amy that was devastating.

She's amazing. She doesn't back down at all.

[babylonsister]

2. I have so much respect for this lady; she's a woman of conviction

who has fought so long for what she believes. I'm glad she's on our side.

[flashl]

3. More stalling ...

January 25, 2004

Female GIs Report Rapes in Iraq War

37 seek aid after alleging sex assaults by U.S. soldiers
by Miles Moffeit and Amy Herdy

Female troops serving in the Iraq war are reporting an insidious enemy in their own camps: fellow American soldiers who sexually assault them.

...

The Pentagon did not respond to repeated requests for information about the number of sexual assault reports during the conflict. Defense officials would say only that they will not tolerate sexual assault in their ranks.

...

Members of Congress told the newspaper they are alarmed by the assault reports, confirming that they have learned of incidents as well.

Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard - a key figure in the investigation of the Air Force Academy rape scandal - said he intends to raise the issue with colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And two Pennsylvania congressmen, Rep. Joseph Pitts and Sen. Arlen Specter, intervened last month on one rape victim's behalf to bring her home. "Congressman Pitts is extremely concerned," spokesman Derek Karchner said. "We have heard that there were cases that hadn't been reported or were not being investigated."

Senate leaders pledged last year (2003) to investigate the military's handling of rape and domestic-violence cases after a Post series found widespread problems in the armed services, including flawed investigations, inadequate victim services and leniency for thousands of soldier sex offenders. Although congressional hearings were called for, none have been scheduled.

...

Allard said he plans to inform his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee of The Post's findings on sexual assaults in the war zone. "I have heard of one or two other cases coming forward," Allard said.

[cally]

4. More folks need to see this story

IMHO