Скачать или смотреть An AP investigation of U.S. military sex-crime cases in Japan shows commanders' chaotic justice reco

(10 Feb 2014) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus005246

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U.S. AIRWOMAN TINA WILSON WAS RECOVERING FROM SURGERY WHILE STATIONED IN JAPAN WHEN SHE WENT TO THE MEDICAL CLINIC FOR A DRESSING CHANGE ...
(SOT: Tina Wilson, former airwoman:)
"He went from checking my lymph node here to, like, grazing and he put, a good amount of his fingers went on my vagina to touch me, and he didn't even check the other side."
WILSON REPORTED THE NAVY DOCTOR, LT. CMDR. ANTHONY L. VELASQUEZ, THE DAY AFTER THE INCIDENT IN JANUARY 2008.
(SOT: Tina Wilson, former airwoman:)
"I was thinking - he just really, just touched me. What if he's done this before, you know. There is a little girl right behind me that's going to see this guy next."
AFTER 10 MONTHS THE INVESTIGATION WAS CLOSED WITH NO ACTION.
WILSON LEFT THE NAVY, DISTRAUGHT OVER HOW HER CASE HAD BEEN HANDLED.
(SOT: Tina Wilson, former airwoman:)
"It was the process that victimized me more than the day that he violated me. It was the process."
LIKE WILSON'S CASE, SEVERAL OF THE NEWLY RELEASED REPORTS DESCRIBE INVESTIGATIONS THAT APPEARED TO INDICATE A CRIME, BUT WERE DROPPED WITH LITTLE OR NO EXPLANATION.
NEARLY TWO-THIRDS OF 244 SERVICE MEMBERS WHOSE PUNISHMENTS WERE DETAILED AMONG THE THOUSAND REPORTS OF SEX CRIMES IN JAPAN BETWEEN 2005 AND EARLY 2013 _ WERE NOT INCARCERATED.
INSTEAD THEY WERE FINED, DEMOTED, RESTRICTED TO THEIR BASES OR REMOVED FROM THE MILITARY.
IN ABOUT 30 CASES, A LETTER OF REPRIMAND WAS THE ONLY PUNISHMENT.
(SOT: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Chair Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee)
"How many more rapes do we have to endure to wait and see what reforms are needed?"
THE SEX CRIME CASES FROM JAPAN, HOME TO THE LARGEST NUMBER OF U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL BASED OVERSEAS, UNVEIL A PATTERN OF RANDOM AND INCONSISTENT JUDGMENTS THAT WILL LIKELY GIVE WEIGHT TO MEMBERS OF CONGRESS PUSHING TO STRIP SENIOR OFFICERS OF THEIR AUTHORITY TO DECIDE WHETHER SERIOUS CRIMES, INCLUDING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT CASES, GO TO TRIAL.
SENIOR U.S. MILITARY LEADERS OPPOSE THE PLAN.
(SOT: Air Force Col. Alan Metzler, deputy director of DOD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office:)
"It's a problem - we admit it. There are way too many sexual assaults happening."
BUT, HE ARGUES THAT COMMANDERS ARE THE MOST CRITICAL TOOL TO PREVENTING CRIME.
(SOT: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat, NY)
"They say today it will undermine good order and discipline. Well, I've got something to tell military: twenty six thousand cases of rape, sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact a year is not good order and discipline."
WHEN COMPARED WITH BROADER STATISTICS RELEASED ANNUALLY BY THE PENTAGON, THE DOCUMENTS SUGGEST THAT U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL BASED IN JAPAN ARE ACCUSED OF SEX CRIMES AT ROUGHLY THE SAME RATE AS THEIR COMRADES AROUND THE WORLD.
SHOCKING SEX CRIMES AGAINST OKINAWANS ARE MAJOR NEWS IN JAPAN.
BUT THE DOCUMENTS SHOW THAT, AS IT IS AT U.S. BASES EVERYWHERE, SERVICE MEMBERS WHO COMMIT SEXUAL ASSAULTS ARE MOST LIKELY TO ABUSE THEIR OWN COMRADES-IN-ARMS.
TRACY BROWN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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