This needs to be addressed. Not just ANOTHER hearing…….people need to start paying for these deaths, and paying for covering them up.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

50,000 sign ColorOfChange.org Petition for Hearing into LaVena Johnson’s Death
Womens’ and veterans’ groups join campaign to urge US Rep. Henry Waxman to lead Congressional investigation into potential US Army coverup of rape-murders

Oakland, CA – Today, two prominent organizations serving women and veterans signaled their support for ColorOfChange.org’s petition calling on Congress to investigate the death of LaVena Johnson, a young female soldier who was raped and murdered while serving in Iraq. The petition has reached over 50,000 signatures and calls on the House Oversight Committee to lead a hearing into the cause of Pfc. Johnson’s death, and the Army’s handling of her case and others like it. The Army continues to maintain that LaVena Johnson’s death is a suicide, despite overwhelming physical evidence she was murdered. In cases like Pfc. Johnson’s, Congress has been slow to investigate or hold the military accountable.

“Private LaVena Johnson’s death is one in a disturbing pattern of cases where female soldiers have been raped and killed with the military either obscuring the truth or conveniently labeling the deaths ’suicides’,” said James Rucker, executive director of ColorOfChange.org. “Congress now faces pressure to act, with more than 50,000 ColorOfChange members joining the Johnson family as they call on Congress to hold the military accountable for these hidden tragedies.”

MomsRising.org and VoteVets.org both endorsed the ColorOfChange.org petition this week. MomsRising.org is a 140,000 member grassroots organization standing up for mothers and families. VoteVets.org is a 100,000-member, pro-military organization comprised of veterans, military family members, and supporters who are dedicated to getting veterans elected to public office.

LaVena Johnson’s death did not make sense as a suicide. Friends and family had been speaking with her regularly, and according to them she was happy—nothing indicated she could be suicidal. After two years of being denied answers and hearing explanations that made no sense, the Johnsons received a CD-ROM from someone inside the military.

It contained pictures of the crime scene where LaVena died and an autopsy showing that she had suffered bruises, abrasions, a dislocated shoulder, broken teeth, and some type of sexual assault. Her body was partially burned; she had been doused in a flammable liquid, and someone had set her body on fire. A corrosive chemical had been poured in her genital area, perhaps to cover up evidence of rape.

As the ColorOfChange.org petition reached 50,000 signatures, Congress was signaling increased interest in scrutinizing the Department of Defense. In a recent hearing on sexual assault in the military, Rep. Elijah Cummings mentioned LaVena Johnson’s case and the pattern of other cases like hers. Several members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) have signed a letter pressing the House Armed Services Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee to examine Pfc. Johnson’s case and others like it as part of an upcoming hearing on suicides in the military.

ColorOfChange.org is continuing to work with LaVena Johnson’s family to push for justice in her case and others like it.

The petition can be found here:

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Full text of ColorOfChange.org’s petition:

Dear Congressman Waxman:

I’m calling on you, as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to conduct a hearing into the death of Pfc. LaVena Johnson. Despite overwhelming evidence that Pfc. Johnson was brutally murdered in Iraq three years ago, the US Army continues to call her death a suicide — refusing to investigate the case and prosecute the perpetrators of this terrible crime.

Congress should not allow the US Army to ignore powerful physical evidence from investigators, withhold requested information and force family members through years of denials and delays. Worse, it appears that the LaVena Johnson case is not unique, and there is a pattern of the Army calling rape-murders suicide and covering up the crimes. This is a disgrace.

I’m standing with the family of LaVena Johnson and requesting that you immediately conduct a hearing into the cause of her death and the US Army’s handling of this case and others like it.

Signed,

[over 50,000 ColorOfChange.org members]