More than 80 members of Congress are demanding a meeting with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to try to force “substantive action” in dealing with widespread sex-assault problems in the armed forces.
Lawmakers also are seeking an explanation for what they describe as the Department of Defense’s 16-year record of shunning repeated recommendations to improve handling of sexual misconduct cases, according to a letter delivered to Rumsfeld’s office Thursday.
“We still have victims of sexual assault in the military complaining of inappropriate care for themselves and inappropriate and variable punishments for their attackers,” wrote Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., in the missive signed by 86 representatives and senators. “This is hardly an effective use of taxpayer dollars and does nothing to help victims of sexual assault in the military.”
Rumsfeld’s spokesmen declined to comment Thursday. The meeting request comes as troops are increasingly reporting that they were assaulted while serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It also follows recent disclosures by The Denver Post that service members accused of sex-assault crimes routinely dodge prosecution with the help of commanders.
In February, Rumsfeld ordered an internal investigation into how commands have responded to assault reports from Iraq. That task force is expected to issue findings by the end of April.
But doubt is growing among lawmakers, who are conducting their own investigations, that the latest task force will lead to serious change, the letter reveals.
“We don’t want DOD’s upcoming report to be exactly like the 18 others before it,” Maloney said. “These reports always are full of suggestions, but they are always followed by a shortage of action. We don’t just want Secretary Rumsfeld to tell us what a great new report DOD has, we want him to detail how its recommendations will be implemented.”
The letter outlines all 18 investigative studies into sexual assault problems – the majority commissioned by the Defense Department or Congress since 1988 – that were ignored or led to little action despite detailed recommendations for reforms.
Maloney is especially interested in whether the Pentagon has acted on recommendations by the National Academy of Public Administration in 1999, a study that grew out of her concern about the handling of rapes at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. That panel suggested the Pentagon establish a new office focused on sexual and domestic-violence crimes. It also requested that the secretary of defense “strengthen and vigorously enforce guidance against command interference” in investigations. In the military, commanders decide whether soldiers face criminal proceedings, not prosecutors.
The Congress members also want Rumsfeld to update them on the findings of his current task force, which has investigated treatment of victims overseas.
More than 130 service members returning from recent war duty have sought sexual-trauma counseling from civilian organizations. They reported poor victim services, incomplete investigations and leniency for accused attackers.
Records released by the Pentagon last week substantiated some of those trends. Army soldiers accused of rape and other sex offenses were nearly five times more likely to receive lenient punishments such as reprimands than to be prosecuted, according to case files.
The congressional letter noted that The Denver Post found in a series of investigative articles last year that leniency has been “the rule” in the military’s handling of sexual and domestic violence crimes for at least a decade. Still, the letter stated, the trend continues to this day.
Christine Hansen, executive director of the Miles Foundation, a Connecticut-based advocacy group for military victims, praised the effort to press Rumsfeld, saying responses to problems have been cloaked in secrecy for years.
“This is an issue that Congresswoman Maloney and others have been concerned about for a considerable amount of time,” Hansen said.
Miles Moffeit can be reached at 303-820-1415 or mmoffeit@denverpost.com .
