TO THE POINT: Why you should know Melissa Roxas

www.justiceformelissa.org

On May 19, 2009 Melissa Roxas, a Filipina-American, was abducted by elements of the Philippine military in Tarlac. She was working as a community health worker in the region, and was taken along with two others: Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Handoc. After pressure from U.S. and Philippines based community groups and her story gaining the attention of mainstream press, Melissa was surfaced six days later, after extensive torture at the hands of her captors.
Under Oplan Bantay Laya, thousands of activists, peasants and civilians were subjected to human rights violations between 2001 and 2010. New York based Human Rights Watch has accused the Philippine government of being engaged in a "dirty war" against activists and community leaders, dangerously conflating community organizing with terrorism. This is how the Philippine government justifies the harassment, torture, abduction and even murder of Filipino teachers, students, community leaders, union organizers, and other civilians just like us. The New York Times reported that the "United Nations Human Rights Council, in a report prepared by its special rapporteur, Philip Alston, called on Ms. Arroyo to institute reforms within the military and to investigate thoroughly what Mr. Alston called "credible allegations" that the military was behind most of these killings and abductions" occurring in the Philippines.
Since 2009, Melissa has toured across the United States to various organizations and college campuses to speak against the rampant human rights violations occurring in the Philippines at the hand of its government and military. There have also been major developments in her case, including the filing of a Writ of Amparo in 2009, extensive hearings at the Committee for Human Rights (CHR) in the Philippines throughout 2010, and a petition to the Department of Justice for an NBI probe in 2011.
However, in May 2011, two years after Melissa was abducted, the CHR issued a resolution that failed its constitutional mandate to protect the human rights of the Filipino people. The CHR resolution cleared the Armed Forces of the Philippines as the perpetrators of Melissa's abduction & torture. Despite the first-hand testimony Melissa provided the CHR by traveling to the Philippines, at great risk to her own safety, the Philippine government and military were again, granted impunity for their wrongdoing.
As member organizations of BAYAN USA, we demand justice for Melissa because she represents the thousands of Filipinos who have been victimized by human rights violations, civilians who are silenced. BAYAN USA urges you to sign the open community letter, and join the several national demonstrations happening in a city near you during the week of May 16th, 2011. Justice for Melissa Roxas and justice for all victims of state-sponsored human rights violations in the Philippines!


For the latest updates regarding Melissa's case, please visit www.justiceformelissa.org
 

Please sign the Open Community Letter here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFRjUXdXUHcxQWQ1...

And read Melissa's Personal Statement regarding the CHR Resolution:
http://justiceformelissa.org/2011/04/chr-resolution-only-serves-to-maintain-a...

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