总统乔·拜登宣布支持起诉性侵犯美国和性骚扰案件将从军事指挥链中移除，由独立的检察官来处理这些案件。

这一变化是由一个关注军队中性侵犯的独立民间小组建议的，长期以来一直得到性侵犯受害者倡导者的支持，他们说这将改善对性侵犯指控的处理。

国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀已经宣布，当独立审查委员会向他提交建议时，他支持该委员会对军队性侵犯的同样建议。

拜登在周五发布的一份声明中说:“我强烈支持奥斯汀部长宣布接受军事性侵犯独立审查委员会(IRC)提出的核心建议，包括从指挥链中取消对性侵犯的调查和起诉，并建立高度专业化的单位来处理这些案件和相关犯罪。”

亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图像，文件

2021年5月6日，国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀在五角大楼参加新闻发布会

“性侵犯是滥用权力，是对我们共同人性的侮辱，”他补充道。“军队中的性侵犯具有双重破坏性，因为它也破坏了美国军队运作和国防所必需的团结和凝聚力。”

拜登说:“今天的声明是我们工作的开始，而不是结束。”。“这将是近年来我们军队进行的最重大的改革之一，我将致力于取得成果。”

拜登说，他期待与国会合作，“实施这些必要的改革，促进我们每一位勇敢的军人免受性侵犯和性骚扰的工作环境。”

在过去十年里，取消军事指挥链的改革一直是纽约州参议员柯尔斯顿·吉利布兰德(Kirsten Gillibrand)倡导的立法的核心。

最近，吉利布兰德获得了两党对一项法案的支持，该法案此前被否决，没有得到五角大楼的支持。

但是吉利布兰德的法案没有得到武装部队委员会主要立法者的支持，他们反对从所有重罪案件中取消指挥链，而不仅仅是性侵犯起诉。

虽然拜登表示支持军事性侵犯起诉的变化，但在周五宣布之前，两名高级政府官员似乎表示，拜登不支持吉利布兰德法案的更广泛变化。

官员们表示，独立小组建议国会今年实施这些改革，但要到2023年才能生效，以帮助建设让特殊受害者检察官参与进来所需的基础设施。

一名官员表示:“我们反对将起诉的法律决定从指挥部转到检察官手中削弱了这些指挥官的作用的观点。”。

这位官员补充说:“相反，我们认为这增强了他们的作用，让他们带头照顾自己的人民——这是指挥官的首要工作——并创造了对性侵犯、性骚扰和相关罪行不容忍的氛围。”

Biden backs removing sexual assault, harassment cases from military chain of command

PresidentJoe Bidenhas announced his support for the recommendation that prosecution ofsexual assaults and sexual harassment cases be removed from the military chain of command in favor of independent prosecutors to handle those cases.

Recommended by an independent civilian panel that looked at sexual assault in the military, the change has been long been supported by advocates for sexual assault victims who say it will improve the handling of sexual assault allegations.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had already announced that he backed the same recommendation made by the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault on the Military when the group presented him with recommendations.

"I strongly support Secretary Austin’s announcement that he is accepting the core recommendations put forward by the Independent Review Commission on Military Sexual Assault (IRC), including removing the investigation and prosecution of sexual assault from the chain of command and creating highly specialized units to handle these cases and related crimes," Biden said in a statement released Friday.

"Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity," he added. "And sexual assault in the military is doubly damaging because it also shreds the unity and cohesion that is essential to the functioning of the U.S. military and to our national defense."

"Today’s announcement is the beginning, not the end of our work," Biden said. "This will be among the most significant reforms to our military undertaken in recent history, and I’m committed to delivering results."

Biden said he looked forward to working with Congress "to implement these necessary reforms and promote a work environment that is free from sexual assault and harassment for every one of our brave service members."

The change to remove the military chain of command from prosecutions has been the centerpiece of legislation championed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., for the last decade.

Recently, Gillibrand has received bipartisan support for a bill that has been previously voted down and not backed by the Pentagon.

But Gillibrand's bill has not received the support of key lawmakers on the Armed Services Committees who are opposed to the removal of the chain of command from all felony cases, not just sexual assault prosecutions.

While Biden expressed support for the change in military sexual assault prosecutions, ahead of Friday's announcement two senior administration officials seemed to indicate that Biden does not support broader changes in Gillibrand's bill.

The officials said the independent panel recommends that the changes be enacted by Congress this year but that they not go into effect until 2023 to help build the infrastructure needed to bring special victims prosecutors on board.

"We reject the notion that shifting legal decisions about prosecution from command to prosecutors diminishes the role of those commanders," said one of the officials.

"We believe, instead, that it enhances their role and places them in the lead of taking care of their people -- the number one job of commanders -- and creating climates of no tolerance for sexual assault, sexual harassment, and related crimes" the official added.