U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered a probe into Pentagon measures to prevent sex attacks within the ranks following a spate of reports of male troops abusing their female comrades in Iraq and Kuwait.
"Sexual assault will not be tolerated in the Department of Defence," Rumsfeld said in a memo, released by the Pentagon, asking for a report and recommendations within 90 days.
Rumsfeld requested an examination of policies relating to sexual assaults and the manner in which the U.S. military treats victims of such attacks and works to prevent them.
Rumsfeld said he was concerned "about recent reports regarding allegations of sexual assaults on service members deployed to Iraq and Kuwait."
The Pentagon said that in the Central Command region - which includes Iraq and Kuwait as well as the Horn of Africa, the entire Gulf region and Central Asia including Afghanistan - the U.S. military had received reports in the past year of 88 cases of "sexual misconduct." Eighty involved Army soldiers, with seven from the Air Force and one from the Marines.
The Pentagon did not give details of the individual cases, but said sexual assault may include rape, attempted rape, indecent assault and sodomy.
The incidents involved U.S. military personnel attacking one another, with most of the cases involving women being assaulted by men, according to a Defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Some female service members who have reported sexual assaults in Iraq and Kuwait have gone public with complaints the U.S. military often failed to launch criminal investigations into their allegations and did not provide them proper medical attention or counselling after an assault.
Their complaints included allegations that male superiors retaliated against them after they accused a male comrade of sexual assault.