MADRID, 28 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has announced this Friday the entry into force of an amendment to the Code of Military Justice that will leave in the hands of “independent and specialized” military prosecutors, instead of commanders, the making of “key decisions ” in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence and other serious crimes involving active duty service members.
The amendment, in Biden’s words, represents “the most important transformation” of the US military justice system since its inception in 1950 and represents a “tipping point” for survivors of the trauma of sexual assault by delinking their cases from the decisions of the chain of command, an obstacle on countless occasions when it comes to denouncing their situation.
Since the first declaration of the amendment in 2021, the Department of Defense has had a period of two years to establish the so-called Special Trials Advocacy Offices, made up of these prosecutors who will decide, instead of the commanders, if they end up initiating a case. judicial process for this type of crime, both in the strictly military field and in the civilian life of the members of the service.
The work of these prosecutors will contribute, according to the White House, to “also reduce the disparities in the sentencing of cases of rape and sexual abuse.” White House sources estimate to the ‘New York Times’ that these offices could begin to operate even at the end of this year.
The military command spent years declaring its opposition to similar attempts at reform until the Pentagon finally agreed to launch the amendment process in 2021, thanks in large part to the encouragement of Democratic Senator Kristen Gillibrand of New York, who finally enters in force as of this Friday, in the form of a presidential executive order, after its initial declaration at Christmas of that year.
A survey released last year by the Department of Defense detailed that the number of reported sexual assaults against service members in 2021 shot up to a new high of 7,249, an increase of 13 percent from the previous year.
The survey also showed that despite efforts to address sexual assault in the military, servicewomen have “significantly” lost confidence in the military to follow up on their cases or treat them with the respect they deserve.
