ACTION ALERT: Help End Torture, Cut US Aid to the Philippines!

(From our good friends at New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines)

**** URGENT ACTION ALERT ****

SIGN THE EMERGENCY ONLINE PETITION<<<<<<<<<<<

* STAND AGAINST TORTURE ON JUNE 26, THE UN INTERNATIONAL DAY IN SUPPORT OF VICTIMS OF TORTURE

*ASK THE US APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE TO CUT US MILITARY AID TO THE PHILIPPINES AND TO REQUIRE THE PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT TO FULLY COMPLY WITH INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CASE OF MELISSA ROXAS!

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June 26 is the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, a particularly significant day for those of us concerned about the continued use of this criminal act worldwide. Most recently, a US citizen of Filipino descent has fallen victim to this cruel and degrading act in the Philippines.

Her case is one of thousands of documented cases of torture, assassinations, kidnappings, and other forms of human rights violations that have gone uninvestigated and unresolved in the Philippines. Just last month the United Nations Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) expressed grave concern at the routine, widespread, and unpunished use of torture by military, police, and other state officials in their country report on the Philippines. As reported by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings Philip Alston, in his 2007 report, although credible evidence points to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as the main culprits behind these human rights violations, they are protected by the Philippine government’s culture of impunity which allows them to roam free. The Philippine government denies any responsibility for and frequently attempts to cover up these human rights violations, as they are also attempting to do in the case of Melissa Roxas despite her sworn testimony about her experience.

The Philippines is one of the largest recipients of US military aid in Southeast Asia. This means US tax dollars are being used as resources by the AFP to continue to perpetrate these human rights violations against innocent civilians. As US taxpayers, we need to tell our government that we DO NOT want the blood of the Filipino people on our hands.

At present, the US Senate Appropriations Committee is in the process of shaping the next US military aid package to the Philippines, and could come out with a decision as early as mid-July. Our Senators and Representatives have an influence on how our tax dollars are spent abroad. They have a responsibility to represent our concerns about how US military aid is being used to commit—and cover up—human rights atrocities in the Philippines, and to express our desire that NOT 1 CENT of our tax dollars support human rights violations in the Philippines.

In addition, a request has been made of the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patrick Leahy to introduce language into this year’s Appropriations bill that would require the Philippine military to full comply with the Writ of Amparo proceedings and any investigation into the case of Melissa Roxas. Please call your Senator/Representative to express your support for a thorough and impartial investigation into Melissa Roxas’ case.

SIGN THE EMERGENCY ONLINE PETITION

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE CASE GO TO: Another ‘Nicole’: Filipina Accuses US Marine of Rape; Case Heightens Junk-VFA Call – Bulatlat

(Fact Sheet on the case at the bottom of statement)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rhonda Ramiro, secgen@bayanusa.org
May 14, 2009 www.bayanusa.org

Vanessa, her back to the cameras, narrates her plight during a press conference on Thursday. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

Gabriela’s Emmi de Jesus (left) and lawyer Evalyn Ursua both say Vanessa’s case strengthens the argument against the Visiting Forces Agreement. (Photo by Ayi Muallam/Bulatlat.com)

The Only “Change” We See Is the Change Being Pocketed by the Philippine Government to Rape and Terrorize the Filipino People—BAYAN-USA

Appalled by the double-news of the rape of another Filipina woman by a U.S. Marine and the increase in U.S. financial aid to the corrupt Philippine government, BAYAN-USA reiterated its call to terminate the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement (“VFA”), which the alliance of 14 Filipino American organizations in the U.S. sees as the red carpet used to usher in U.S. troops, supplies, and military training linked to thousands of human rights violations.

Under the auspices of the VFA, over 6,000 US troops were deployed to the Philippines this past April, to engage in so-called Balikatan (“shoulder-to-shoulder”) military exercises.  In a press conference today, the 22-year-old Filipina “Vanessa” (not her real name) told the story of how she was raped in a hotel room on April 19 by a U.S. Marine, registered in hotel records as “from Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group/Balikatan.”  According to the women’s group GABRIELA, Vanessa has decided not to file a case against her alleged rapist though there is evidence to support her claim.

“We are outraged that another Filipina has become the victim of U.S. troops, and that the VFA is blocking her from obtaining justice,” said BAYAN-USA Secretary General Rhonda Ramiro.  “Last month’s acquittal of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith signals that U.S. military personnel can get away with the most heinous crimes on Philippine soil because they will be protected by the VFA.”

SMITH ACQUITTAL A COLLABORATIVE MANEUVER BY ARROYO & US GOV’T TO PROTECT VFA

RP court acquits US Marine convicted of raping Filipina

MANILA, Philippines – Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith, the American who was earlier convicted by a lower court of raping a Filipina in Subic, was acquitted by the Court of Appeals (CA).

The Philippines has many ‘Nicoles’

The Philippines has many “Nicoles,” but only Suzette Nicolas was served justice when the Makati Regional Trial Court convicted Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of rape on December 4, 2006.

From 1981 to 1988, when the US military bases were in the Philippines, 3,274 cases of abuse of women and children were filed against US servicemen in Subic and Clark. However, not one of the US servicemen was convicted.

Data from the Olongapo City prosecutor’s office showed that during the same period, cases of rape and sexual abuse involving children ages 11 to 16 were filed against US servicemen. Another 82 cases of sexual abuse involving young women were also recorded. All of these cases were dismissed.

Ninety-seven of these cases, in which 15 children were involved, were filed by the non-government Bikolana Gabriela against American soldiers in Clark and Subic.

Smith was the first-ever American military personnel who was convicted of committing a crime on Philippine soil since the establishment of the US military bases at the Subic Bay Naval Base in Zambales province and Clark Air Base in Angeles, Pampanga and the passage of the Visiting Forces Agreement in 1999. – GMANews.TV

News Release
April 23, 2009

Reference: Rhonda Ramiro, Secretary-General, BAYAN USA, email: secgen@bayanusa.org

SMITH ACQUITTAL A COLLABORATIVE MANEUVER BY ARROYO & US GOV’T TO PROTECT VFA– BAYAN USA

BAYAN-USA, an alliance of Filipino organizations in the United States, declared the recent court acquittal of US Marine Daniel Smith of a rape conviction back in 2006 as a collaborative move by the US and Arroyo governments to protect the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

The controversial decision comes right after a Philippine Supreme Court (SC) ruling to probe into the circumstances surrounding the affidavit issued by rape victim Nicole and the leakage of a draft Court of Appeals (CA) ruling of acquittal for Smith last week, prompting CA officials to act fast.

The 2005 rape of 22 year-old Filipina Nicole leading to the 2006 trial and conviction US Lance Corporal Smith was a landmark case that marked the first time in the 100+ history of US military presence in the country that a US military personnel was actually convicted under the Philippine judicial system for a crime committed in the Philippines. But the events following the celebrated conviction, beginning with Smith’s transfer of custody from Philippine jurisdiction to the US Embassy drew such outrage and condemnation from the streets that it sparked a burgeoning patriotic movement inside Philippine Congress to abrogate the 10 year-old VFA military agreement, which allows for the “temporary basing” of US military troops in over 20 ports throughout the Philippine archipelago.

FLIP DA SKRIPT! AN OPEN MIC! JUNK JUNK JUNK VFA! featuring ZELSTARRR

Calling all poets, artists, singers, emcees, and musicians!

The League of Filipino Students @ SF STATE is proud to present…

FLIP DA SKRIPT! an open mic!
JUNK VFA!

THURSDAY, APRIL 23rd
@ BURK HALL 28, San Francisco State University
Doors at 7:30PM,
Show at 8:00PM

FEATURING ZELSTARRR of the RHAPSODISTAS
soulful r&b! ♥

http://www.myspace.com/liezelrivera
http://www.myspace.com/rhapsodistas

THIS EVENT IS HELLA FREE!!
FREE FOOD & DRINKS WILL BE SERVED
THIS IS A HATE FREE EVENT.

For more information on the VFA, please visit http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/JunkVFAnow/ and also sign onto the petition!

For questions and concerns, please email lfs.sfsu@gmail.com.

End Unequal Relations between the Philippines and the U.S.! Surrender Smith Now!

Image Key (L to R): U.S. Marine Daniel Smith, convicted rapist; Philippine youth at protest with "Jail Smith" painted on arms; Former Pres. Fidel Ramos who began groundwork for the VFA; Former Pres. Joseph Estrada who enacted the VFA and was the second Philippine President to be ousted through protest; Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who's in the running to be the third ousted president given the human rights abuses of her administration, recorded conversations citing election fraud, and her loving embrace of the VFA; "Junk VFA" protest; Judge (the turn of the century equivalent of Time and Newsweek) cover cartoon depicting Pres. McKinley giving the Filipino his "first bath" in the waters of "civilization" while Puerto Rico and Guam put on their red-white-and-blues after their bath-time with the U.S. champion of expansionism; GABRIELA woman's coalition protesting the handling of the Subic Rape Case, U.S. Intervention, and the VFA; Hope!; Paris!; Cell68's special brand of Razzle-Dazzle.

BAYAN USA and GABRIELA USA spear headed a national petition to  garner support to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and end unequal relations between the U.S. and the Philippines.

You can help bring “Hope & Change” to the unequal relations between the U.S. the Republic of the Philippines.
[ For a larger view of the attached image for this post, click here. ]

In November 2005, U.S. Lance Corporal Daniel Smith and three other U.S. Marines were accused of raping a Pinay (Filipina woman), tossing her out of a van, and driving away. Smith was convicted of rape by a Philippine court in 2006 (the other three-Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis and Staff Sergeant Chad Carpentier-were acquitted on the grounds that they were either “only” watching in the van and cheering Smith on or could prove they were buying pizza when the incident happened).

Despite being convicted, Smith never spent a day in a Philippine jail. Instead he’s been detained in the U.S. Embassy.

Fast forward to February 2008 when the Philippine Supreme Court declared Smith’s detention in the U.S. Embassy illegal and that he should have instead been serving time in a Philippine jail; they called for his transfer to a Philippine jail, just like the rest of the criminals who break Philippine law. The U.S. government countered by citing a provision in the so-called Republic of the Philippines-United States Visiting Forces Agreement (1999) which allows the U.S. custody of erring American soldiers (aka “Those who done F%#*D up while on duty…and actually get caught, usually by someone other than U.S. Military”).

Interrupting American Analogy for Illustrative Purposes: You know how Paris Hilton was convicted and was sentenced to 40+ days of jail time, but instead of serving it she was able to be detained in her home instead? Why? Because she’s a celebrity with status and money-she’s not just “cute” (so up for debate), she’s also the heiress of the Hilton fortune. Boo. Foul-play. You suck!Not fair, right? If you or I did what she did, we’d be serving our time…no doubt.