FAS

Army Directive Prohibits Retaliation for Reporting a Crime

06.23.14 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The Secretary of the Army last week issued a directive specifying that retaliating against someone for reporting a crime is itself a crime.

“No Soldier may retaliate against a victim, an alleged victim or another member of the Armed Forces based on that individual’s report of a criminal offense,” the new Directive states. See Prohibition of Retaliation Against Soldiers for Reporting a Criminal Offense, Army Directive 2014-20, June 19, 2014.

Prohibited forms of retaliation include adverse personnel actions and ostracism, as well as “acts of cruelty, oppression or maltreatment.”

The directive implements a requirement that was enacted by Congress in the 2014 defense authorization act (section 1709) as part of a legislative response to instances of sexual assault in the military.