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U.S. Citizen
Abducted and Tortured by Suspected Philippine Military Agents to Speak
Publicly for First Time
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2009
Contact: Rhonda Ramiro, secgen@bayanusa.org
U.N. Day in Support of Torture Victims Marked with Press Conference
by Torture Survivor Melissa Roxas
What: Press Conference of Melissa Roxas, recent victim of abduction and
torture
When: Saturday, June 27, 2009
Time: 4-5:30 PM
Where: Echo Park United Methodist Church
1226 N. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Live Web Stream: www.bayan.ph
LOS ANGELES, CA – In her first public appearance since being released
from captivity, Melissa Roxas, a U.S. citizen abducted and tortured in
the Philippines from May 19-25, will hold a press conference to describe
the human rights abuses she endured while held for six days in an
alleged military camp. Ms. Roxas, an American human rights advocate of
Filipino descent, is the first known American citizen to have become a
victim of abduction and torture in the Philippines, a country which has
drawn international condemnation for state-sponsored human rights
atrocities.
In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Philippine Supreme Court, Ms.
Roxas described being abducted at gunpoint by several heavily armed men,
brought to what she believed is a military camp, held against her will,
questioned without the presence of an attorney, beaten repeatedly, and
asphyxiated using plastic bags before being released. During the press
conference, Ms. Roxas is expected to demand accountability from the
Philippine government and military, who she holds responsible for her
ordeal, as well as the U.S. government for providing funding and
training to the Philippine military. Reports by the United Nations,
Amnesty International, Philippine-based human rights organization
Karapatan, and Human Rights Watch have overwhelmingly concluded that the
Philippine military is responsible for systematically carrying out human
rights violations such as abduction, torture and extra-judicial killings
against innocent civilians. Nearly $1 billion worth of U.S. military aid
and materiel has been granted to the Philippines since 1999, the year
the U.S.- Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement was enacted.
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The experience of Ms. Roxas is
considered typical for the 200 cases of abduction and 1,010 cases of
torture recorded since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became president of the
Philippines in 2001. The Philippine government’s quick denial of
responsibility for Ms. Roxas’ abduction and torture is also considered a
typical response; in his 2007 report on the Philippines, U.N. Special
Rapporteur Philip Alston cited such systematic denial by the government as
one of the primary obstacles to stopping the rampant human rights
violations plaguing the country. In his 2009 follow-up report, Alston
indicated a general failure of the Arroyo government to stop the
persistent human rights violations. In April 2009, the UN Committee
Against Torture (UNCAT) also released a report detailing the use of
torture by the Philippine military.
At the press conference, Ms. Roxas’ legal counsel, Attorney Arnedo Valera,
will explain the potential legal remedies that are being explored,
including the filing of a tort action in U.S. Federal Court for punitive
and compensatory damages against her identified assailants or the Arroyo
government in the absence of named assailants; the lodging of a private
complaint before the U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Desk against
the Philippine government for the violation of the fundamental rights of a
U.S. citizen; and the filing of a complaints before the appropriate U.N.
agencies for violations of the International Covenant Against Torture, the
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the U.N. Declaration of Human
Rights.
The press conference will be held in Los Angeles, CA and broadcast live on
the website www.bayan.ph. Media in the Philippines will be hosted
simultaneously by Bayan Philippines and will be able to ask questions in
real time. The U.S.-based press conference is sponsored by the Justice for
Melissa Roxas Campaign, whose membership includes Ms. Roxas’ legal
counsel, BAYAN-USA, GABRIELA USA, Katarungan Center for Peace, Justice and
Human Rights, and the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns. ### |
