Melissa Roxas' lawyer mulls indemnification suit vs Arroyo gov't

CHICAGO – A lawyer for Filipino-American activist Melissa Roxas said Thursday that his group is preparing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Philippine government next week over the alleged abduction, detention and torture of their client in the northern Philippines last May. At the same time, his group is also exploring “the legal possibility of filing criminal cases against the identified perpetrators in the United States as torture allows government to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction and /or bringing this case before the International Court of Justice." Arnedo S. Valera revealed his legal moves during a vigil rally by a group of human rights advocates led by the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach during President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's visit to the White House Thursday. Mrs. Arroyo's entourage entered the White House at 3:10 p.m. and left at 3:55 p.m. The vigil participants - church people, seminarians, and others from the New York Committee on Human Rights and the National Alliance for Philippine Concerns (Nafcon) from New York and Washington, D.C. - camped outside the White House more than three hours before President Arroyo met with President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. Valera said Roxas is a Manila-born US citizen who earlier filed a torture case against President Arroyo before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and had written President Obama “to remind him of what his policy and his government’s philosophy on torture." A similar case was filed on July 28 before the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Manfred Nowak under the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, on Roxas' claim of torture and abduction by alleged operatives of the Philippine military. Roxas claimed she was abducted on May 19, 2009 in the northern province of Tarlac and released May 25 after she was tortured at Fort Magsaysay, a sprawling military camp in Nueva Ecija that is home to the Army’s 7th Infantry Division. Days after she was released, she executed an affidavit before the US Embassy narrating her ordeal. Before leaving for the US, she also filed a petition for a writ of amparo with the Philippine Supreme Court, seeking protection against her alleged abductors. The high tribunal has referred her case to the CA. On Thursday, she appeared before the CA to affirm the contents of her affidavit before the court. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the House committee on human rights have also opened inquiries into Roxas’ abduction, detention and torture complaints. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has denied any hand in Roxas’ abduction. A pro-military party-list group, on the other hand, has made public videos and pictures supposedly of Roxas undergoing combat training at a jungle camp of the outlawed New People’s Army (NPA) in Aurora province. In his remarks Thursday in Washington, D.C., Valera said, “it is in the best interest of the United States to cut aid to the Philippine military because the military is committing human rights violations with impunity. Human rights violations feed political instability and make the Philippines less safe and more insecure for everyone, including the American citizens and US business interests. Providing support to Pres. Arroyo is also a losing investment for the US." Valera also reminded Obama of one of his speeches, Valera said, “My administration is committed to taking concrete actions against torture and to address the needs of its victims." And at the historic commemoration of the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims, Obama remarked, “Torture is contrary to the founding documents of our country and the fundamental values of our people. The US must stand against torture wherever it takes place." Contrary also to accusations that Roxas was a member of the New Peoples’ Army, Valera quoted her as saying, “My God does not torture" when she was being tortured in the Philippines by military agents. The NPA is a rebel group that does not believe in God. He said, “Melissa was allegedly tortured by the special operations group of the 7th infantry division of the Philippine Army. She was freed because they knew that doing otherwise would create a diplomatic nightmare for the Arroyo government, especially when President Arroyo needs US President Obama to validate the legitimacy and the eroding credibility of her regime. “President Arroyo arrived in Washington D.C. with blood in her hands, a trail of corruption cases and election fraud. A regime teetering in moral bankruptcy and at the end of her term will be leaving a legacy of shame and embarrassment. That is, the Philippines is being known as the number one human rights violator in Asia and among the top ten in the world and the most corrupt nation in Asia and among the top 10 in the world. As the lawyer for Melissa Roxas, Valera said, “I know that her case and those of others who have been human rights victims of the Arroyo government echo a thousand times not only in the Philippines but before the international community. The White House has not issued any statement regarding the human rights and torture allegations against the Arroyo government. Instead, President Obama has cited Mrs. Arroyo for helping in the global campaign against terrorism - GMANews.TV