On the one year anniversary of Melissa Roxas’ surfacing in Quezon City after enduring six days of physical and psychological torture at the hands of her captors, who many believe to have been the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Roxas and her many supporters worldwide are still demanding for justice. The anniversary resonates for supporters of Roxas especially after the tumultuous national elections in the Philippines and the pronouncement of a new president scheduled to assume office just as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to step down by June 30th.

“One year after Melissa’s ordeal, she is still suffering from both physical and psychological trauma from the abuse she endured while in illegal detention,” states Kuusela Hilo of the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign. “Yet not one arrest has been made for the abduction of Melissa Roxas and her companions until now. Like thousands of other victims of human rights abuses committed under the Arroyo government, Melissa Roxas and her many supporters demand the immediate prosecution of Arroyo herself once she steps down. We challenge President-elect Aquino to do the conscionable thing and bring justice for Melissa and all victims of human right abuses in the Philippines.”

Roxas, an American citizen, was volunteering for a community medical mission in La Paz, Tarlac on May 19, 2009 when she was forcibly abducted at gunpoint along with her two companions, blindfolded, and thrown into a cell where she would endure her experience until finally being released on May 25th.

A writ of amparo filed by Roxas was eventually granted by the Philippine Court of Appeals, acknowledging the legitimacy of Roxas’ experience of abduction and torture, along with corroborating medical reports on her physical condition post-detention. But while some praised the high court’s decision to grant the writ of amparo, most criticized it for letting the respondents to the claim–including Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, and several high-ranking members of the AFP–off the hook, further illustrating the pervasive culture of impunity for known human rights abusers under the Philippine judicial system.

Since returning to Los Angeles in late 2009, Roxas, a human rights advocate and member of Habi Arts, has been active in speaking out publicly against her ordeal and on behalf of other victims of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances that have taken place under the Arroyo government’s counter-insurgency program known as Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL). Roxas has also filed complaints with the US State Department and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture.

“The reason why I tell my story is because it is also the story of many others, and it reflects the experience of many Filipinos who have been abducted and tortured in the Philippines. Not all of them have surfaced, not all of them have survived, and those who did have been afforded very few opportunities to speak about what happened to them,” Roxas stated in a visit to New York City last January.

The Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign, initiated by friends and family of Roxas, along with allied groups, has been actively demanding to cut US military aid to the Philippines because of its role in enabling the Philippine military’s practice of human rights violations and state-sponsored terrorism. Arroyo’s OBL campaign has been widely-criticized by international human rights monitoring groups for targeting civilians.  ###

While the recent ruling by the Philippine Court of Appeals (CA) in favor of Melissa Roxas’ petition for a Writ of Amparo and Writ of Habeus Data affirms Roxas’ testimony to her May abduction and torture while illegally detained as the truth, justice remains delayed, and at worst obstructed, with the CA’s denial of an inspection of Fort Magsaysay and clearing of the Arroyo government and military as respondents.

Vindication

A cornerstone of the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign, a broad movement of international supporters of Melissa Roxas, is the fact that Roxas was abducted and tortured and as a victim of a human rights violation, Roxas is in need of rehabilitation from the physical and psychological trauma caused by her ordeal. The CA ruling in favor of Roxas’s petition not only affirms these points, it vindicates Roxas herself. Since her brave initiation of the pursuit of justice, Roxas has been the target of a ruthless and relentless vilification campaign launched by Arroyo loyalists in Congress Jun Alcover and Jovito Palparan. The CA ruling not only proves that their psywar efforts against Roxas have been futile, it reprimands such efforts and calls for its immediate end.

With this portion of the ruling, the other legal and political measures the Justice For Melissa Roxas Campaign is taking in the international front gain considerable headway, as the CA has confirmed that Roxas’ testimony is “credible and worthy of belief”. We see this as an impetus for the broad international support for Melissa Roxas to expand and grow stronger.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

Another cornerstone of the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign is that justice be sought to the full extent of the law, including investigation, arrest and prosecution of Roxas abductors and torturers. Therefore, we take issue with the CA’s ruling to deny Roxas’ petition for an investigation of Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija and discharge of the petition’s respondents — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Victor Ibrado, and Army Chief Lt. General Delfin Bangit — based on a so-called failure to prove the principle of command responsibility. This part of the CA’s decision makes no sense in lieu of the previous legal developments and growing political isolation surrounding the Arroyo government and the Philippine military.

Last July, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines, an independent office mandated by the Constitution of the Philippines, conducted its own investigation into Roxas’ case, including an ocular inspection of Fort Magsaysay. In probing the Philippine military’s role, CHR Chair Leila de Lima confirmed that the physicality of the Philippine military camp was a match to Roxas’ description of her detention facility while blindfolded. De Lima even testified, alongside Roxas, before the Philippine Congress days prior to the Philippine Supreme Court’s hearing on Roxas’ petition.

Roxas’ petition notwithstanding, a glaring precedent has also been set confirming the Philippine military’s culpability in the worsening pattern of gross human rights violations in the Philippines with the official country reports released by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston and the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

That the CA ruled Roxas’ belief that it was the Philippine military responsible for her abduction last May 19th and six-day detention while undergoing torture as “unfounded” is unacceptable, and hints of impunity for Roxas’ torturers. In this regard, portions of the CA ruling also pose a setback to the pursuit of complete justice for Melissa Roxas.

Support for Roxas Grows

Widespread support for Melissa Roxas remains strong and continues to grow. Melissa Roxas’ legal team, and her base of support, are not set back in pursuing complete justice to the full extent of the law. The gains of the CHR’s efforts and portions of the CA’s ruling must be advanced, beginning with the release of the CHR’s findings from its own investigation. The CA’s affirmation of Roxas’ credibility will certainly advance the campaign’s efforts to seek justice through international courts.

The strengthening of Melissa Roxas’ campaign for justice will further isolate the Arroyo government and its military. One thing is for sure, if the CA’s denial of inspection and discharge of respondents leads Roxas’ captors to heave a sigh of relief, they should think again. ###

While former Philippine military leader-turned-lawmaker Jovito Palparan fails to break the credibility of American citizen Melissa Roxas’ testimony that it was the Philippine military that tortured and abducted her last May during a hearing before the Philippine House Committee on Human Rights in Manila, official complaints of torture have already been filed by Roxas’ US legal team with the United Nations in Geneva and United States State Department.

In a statement issued earlier this week by Roxas’ US-based legal counsel, Attorney Arnedo Valera of the Migrant Heritage Commission, a torture claim was filed in Roxas’ behalf “by way of ‘An Urgent Appeal and Allegation vs. the Philippine Government’ before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak, under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland.” A confirmation of receipt was also sent from Geneva.

Serving as co-counsel for Roxas alongside Valera is renowned international human rights lawyer Leonard Weinglass, whose clients have included the Cuban Five, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Angela Davis.

Valera also explained that the Urgent Appeal is requesting the UN office to review the significant human rights violations committed on Roxas and that an immediate impartial investigation be conducted, specifically citing established procedures under the U.N Commission on Human Rights, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Meanwhile, Roxas’ legal team also filed a complaint and request for investigation with the US State Department in Roxas’ behalf just in time for the upcoming face-to-face meeting between President Barack Obama and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo this Thursday. Community groups in support of Roxas, including the Justice For Melissa Roxas Campaign, are sending letters to Obama requesting that he raise the issue of Roxas and other cases of human rights atrocities with Arroyo during their meeting, as well as comply with the pending US State Department investigation. Supporters of Melissa can write and send a letter to Obama by clicking onto: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dd9d2nfn_96hk8bhhg9

Roxas is the first US citizen under the Obama administration to be subjected to torture in the Philippines. In a statement last June 26th, in commemoration of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims, Obama stated– “Torture is contrary to the founding documents of our country, and the fundamental values of our people….My administration is committed to taking concrete actions against torture and to address the needs of its victims.”

Roxas is scheduled to testify at the Philippine Supreme Court’s hearing for her Writ of Amparo petition the same day as the Obama-Arroyo meeting in Washington DC.

But before that Roxas must conclude her testimony in front of the Philippine House Committee on Human Rights, which is chaired by House Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III. The said committee also includes Rep. Satur Ocampo, Rep. Liza Maza, Rep. Edcel Lagman, Rep. Roman Romulo, and Rep. Risa Hontiveros.

Also questioned by the House Committee were Palparan and Rep. Jun Alcover, who have been seeking to dismiss Roxas’ belief that she was abducted and tortured by the Philippine military by hurling accusations against Roxas herself. Palaparan is the former head of the 7th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), stationed in Fort Magsaysay, the same unit Roxas suspects abducted and tortured her last May. Their attempts to break Roxas’ course of action in going after the AFP or steer the hearing in another direction have failed.

“I can no longer count how many times I have narrated the incident and my ordeal,” Roxas stated before the House Committee. “But I will not tire to tell the truth about what happened for I seek justice, not only for myself, but for others who have gone through the same. I seek justice, not only for what they did to me, but for other victims of human rights violations.”

Actions in front of the White House during the Obama-Arroyo meeting, including a prayer vigil, are set for Thursday, July 30th.

For more information, contact the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign at info@justiceformelissa.org and visit the Justice for Melissa Roxas Campaign Website at www.justiceformelissa.org. ###

The latest accusations of Philippine Congressman Jovito Palparan should bear no weight in determining the outcome of the ongoing investigation on the case of American torture victim Melissa Roxas. This must only be determined by the facts, including the evidence currently being gathered by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in the Philippines.

It is clear in hurling accusations about Roxas’ political affiliation, Palparan is seeking to steer the public conversation about Roxas’ case to another direction, in hopes of protecting not only the perpetrators of the crime, but maintain the status quo of rampant, state-sponsored human rights violations in the Philippines, of which Palparan is a leading fixture.

By blatantly dismissing the circumstances surrounding Roxas’ case and the rule of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and its provisions on torture, Palparan seeks to shift the paradigm of seeking justice from a question of the facts and accountability to a question of ideology and political beliefs.

Abduction, Torture, and International Humanitarian Law

It is important to remember that the issue at hand is the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas, an American citizen and community health volunteer worker who, along with her two companions, was abducted at gunpoint by 15 masked men, in La Paz, Tarlac. Roxas later surfaced on May 25th in Quezon City.

Medical reports from examiners both in Philippines and United States conclude that Roxas showed symptoms typical of a torture victim, symptoms impossible to fabricate or impersonate.

What Palparan and the Arroyo government continually fail to recognize and remember is that international humanitarian law (IHL) prohibits torture and other forms of ill treatment at all times and demands that detainees be treated according to international standards, REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL AFFILIATION AND BELIEFS. The Philippine government, as a state signatory since 1977, is party to all major international humanitarian and human rights law treaties. This includes provisions on torture.

A Hired Gun in the Philippine Congress

In applying the standards set by IHL on the Philippines, one would realize that it is Palparan himself, a former high-ranking official with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), that has accumulated a vast amount of violations, including the assassination campaigns of dissenters in Mindoro, Eastern Visayas, and Central Luzon, under his stints as the commander of the Philippine Army’s 204th Infantry Brigade, 8th Infantry Division, and finally the 7th Infantry Division– the SAME group under investigation of the CHR for the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas.

Palparan’s integrity as a public servant and lawmaker in the Philippine Congress must also be put into question. Who stands to gain most from Palparan’s accusations against Roxas and divert the public conversation from the documented facts of her abduction and torture? None other than Commander-in-Chief Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself.

Arroyo gladly promoted Palparan twice in a row, despite growing condemnations from international human rights groups. It must be noted that the never-arrested, never-jailed Palparan currently has pending cases against him for numerous human rights violations, including the abduction of university students Karen Empeno and Sherlyn Cadapan in 2006. But despite this, Arroyo’s clique further rewarded Palparan with a seat in the Philippine House of Representatives shortly after his retirement. As an official Philippine lawmaker, Palparan’s main responsibility is to protect the Philippine Constitution and serve the public interest, not policing the New People’s Army or speaking publicly for the Philippine military.

Palparan’s accusations against Roxas and ardent defense of the AFP further prove that torture is in fact a policy of the Philippine government and military.

A Brave Woman

That Roxas found the courage to return to the Philippines to pursue justice “not only for [herself], but for thousands of other victims of human rights violations” is a commendable and extremely brave act. We can only hope that the CHR, which is mandated only to determine cases of human rights violations and make recommendations, continues with its investigation with a truly objective framework, and not under the influence of the likes of Palparan. ###