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Fil-Am activist files complaint with State Department vs RP


Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas has filed a formal complaint with the US Department of State against the Philippine government for her alleged abduction and torture by military agents last May. In the complaint filed on July 1, Roxas asked the US government to conduct an “impartial and vigorous investigation of the Philippine government’s culpability" about the incident. In her complaint, Roxas said that 15 armed men forcibly took her and two other people in Tarlac on May 21 while her team was conducting research for a future medical mission in the area. She said she was subjected to mental and physical torture in a place which she believed was a military camp, and that she was released six days later. The complaint, filed by Roxas’ counsel Arnedo Valera, added that Roxas is suing the Philippine government for “the pattern of abduction, forced disappearance, torture, extra-judicial killings and other human rights violations committed under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo." Sworn affidavits and an information packet from various advocacy groups hoping to “obtain justice for Melissa Roxas and to put an end to the human rights violations in the Philippines" were included in the complaint. Malacañang has promised to look into the allegations. "The government is prepared to act accordingly. We just hope that this is not used for propaganda," Press Secretary Cerge Remonde told GMANews.TV. In a press conference in Los Angeles last June 28, Roxas had said: “I want the world to know what happened because the Philippine government and military should not get away with what they did to me…and they cannot get away with what they did to many other people." Roxas is an American citizen of Filipino descent. US Embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson told GMANews.TV that they were aware of the allegations hurled against the Philippine military by Roxas. “We take seriously the safety and security of American citizens and are seeking further information about this case," Thompson said. According to the human rights group Karapatan, it has documented 1,017 cases of extrajudicial killings from January 2001 to March 2009 in the Philippines. The group also reported that it has compiled 1, 010 cases of torture, 201 forced disappearances, and 203 abduction incidents. UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston reported in 2007 that “in some parts of the country, the Armed Forces have followed a deliberate strategy of systematically hunting down the leaders of leftist organizations." - Joseph Lariosa, GMANews.TV

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