 May 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Army Condones Rape by US Soldiers in Iraq According to investigative reports in The Denver Post, the US Army is routinely refusing to prosecute US soldiers in Iraq who are accused of rape. According to a report on January 25, 2004, "At least 37 female service members have sought sexual-trauma counseling and other assistance from civilian rape crisis organizations after returning from war duty in Iraq, Kuwait, and other overseas stations, The Denver Post has learned. The women, ranging from enlisted soldiers to officers, have reported poor medical treatment, lack of counseling and incomplete criminal investigations by military officials. Some say they were threatened with punishment after reporting assaults." A follow-up report in The Denver Post on April 12, 2004, based on records from 41 closed rape investigations obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, found that the system of giving the power to decide whether to prosecute or not to the commanders of the accused, not to prosecutors, frequently resulted in terminated investigations, dropped charges, and light administrative punishments, even in cases with substantial evidence. The Post reported, "In the case of [a] sergeant accused of assaulting three battalion soldiers - two incidents occurring in shower stalls - he even admitted to the crimes, documents show. And despite a prosecutor's note that 'sufficient admissible evidence is available to prosecute the subject for the offenses,' the commander chose only to reprimand the sergeant. No explanation was given, a trend in all the cases." These cases indicate that mild administrative punishments are more the rule than the exception. Preceding the revelations in May 2004 about systematic abuse in the US administered prisons in Iraq, the Post reported that, "In one investigation, three Fort Bragg, NC, soldiers with the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion were accused of assaulting an Iraqi woman held in the Abu Ghraib prison. Although no details were provided, the report notes that the enlisted men were each fined at least $500 and demoted in rank." For more information, please see The Miles Foundation and Survivors Take Action Against Abuse by Military Personnel*. * Editor's note: the printed article contained a link to this now defunct organization's website. 
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