[Bloquez l'empire!] Fwd: International day of action in support of "Nicole, " a Filipino rape victim

[Meg Leitold]

> *Join the organizations at the Philippine Women
> Centre of Quebec. in an
> international day of action in support of  "Nicole,"
> a Filipino rape victim
> fighting  a historic case against US military
> servicemen!*
> 
> Monday, November 27
> 12 Noon
> US Consulate
> 1155, rue Saint-Alexandre, just north of boulevard
> René-Lévesque (Metro
> Place des Arts)
> Montreal
> 
> The verdict in the case of "Nicole," a 24-year old
> Filipino woman fighting a
> historic rape case against 6 US soldiers in the
> Philippines, will be handed
> down on November 27.
> 
> Nicole was raped last year in Subic Bay Freeport,
> formerly the largest US
> naval base outside the US mainland.  The case has
> brought criticism to
> Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for her
> failure to protect
> women's rights and national sovereignty in the
> context of the increasing
> militarization of the Philippines.
> 
> In the face of her own corrupt government, the
> politically-motivated
> appointment of an incompetent public prosecution
> team, the resignation of
> judges under pressure from the Department of Justice
> and media campaigns
> depicting her as a "loose woman" seeking to take
> advantage of disciplined,
> white American soldiers fighting a war on terror,
> Nicole has persisted in
> her fight for justice and legal reform.  In
> particular, her case has brought
> attention to the inadequacies of the Visiting Forces
> Agreement (VFA) between
> the US and the Philippines, and of Philippine rape
> law.
> 
> Nicole's case has demonstrated the VFA is contrary
> to the interests of
> Filipino citizens in allowing US authorities to
> retain custody of US
> personnel charged under Philippine law, and allowing
> US authorities to
> request "the other government to waive their primary
> right to exercise
> jurisdiction in a particular case."  As Philippine
> Congresswoman Liza Maza
> states, "This puts pressure on the Philippine
> government to bow to the wish
> of the US."  The pressure exerted on the Philippine
> government in this case
> has led to calls for legislative reform to ensure
> the independence of the
> judiciary and the prosecution.
> *
> Join the Philippine Women Centre on this
> international day of action to
> support Nicole and all rape victims, and to demand
> women's rights to safety,
> justice and the national sovereignty of all
> countries under US domination!
> *
> 
> http://bulatlat.com/news/6-41/6-41-rape_printer.html
> 
> ANALYSIS
> 
> * Nicole's Ordeal is More than Rape *
> 
> * Nicole's case is not just rape. It is also a case
> against the presence of
> U.S. troops in the country, a violation of our
> sovereignty.  It is not only
> Nicole's dignity which has been violated.  The
> Filipino people's dignity is
> also trampled upon whenever U.S. troops conduct
> military exercises in our
> country; participate in combat operations with the
> AFP; and have the gall to
> rape a Filipina. *
> 
> * BY BENJIE OLIVEROS
> Bulatlat*
> 
> A rape is not simply a transgression of a person's
> right or a criminal act.
> Rape is a life-changing and traumatic experience. In
> a painful moment, a
> woman is robbed of her dignity by the bestial
> desires of a man. And the
> emotional scars of rape take a lifetime to heal.
> Perhaps what would
> facilitate the healing process is for the victim to
> seek and attain justice.
> 
> Such is the difficult journey of Nicole. For a year
> now, she had to live
> with and continue reliving what happened to her on
> Nov. 1, 2005.  A vacation
> turned into a nightmare.  More than that, she had to
> live with the repulsive
> comments, insults, stares and the insensitivities of
> those who know no
> better.
> 
> The worst of it came from the Department of Justice
> (DoJ), a government
> agency that is supposed to protect and give justice
> to the oppressed.  Right
> from the start, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales had
> already expressed
> disbelief over the rape of Nicole. He even said that
> the three others could
> have been charged with a lesser crime but he felt
> compelled to "bow to mob
> rule." And toward the end of the case, Senior State
> Prosecutor Emilie de los
> Santos even called Nicole and her family as
> "ingrates" and "liars."
> 
> This situation shows the kind of justice department
> we have. Perhaps the
> honorable justice secretary and his band of
> prosecutors let their slip show
> early on especially since the accused are not
> ordinary people. Lance
> Corporal Daniel Smith (the principal accused), Staff
> Sergeant Chad Brian
> Carpenter and Lance Corporals Keith Silkwood and
> Dominic Duplantis are
> representatives of the almighty America.
> 
> Right from the start, Nicole was faced with the
> biggest obstacle of all, the
> Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the U.S. and
> the Philippines. With
> the VFA, the accused did not have to be detained
> inside the country's
> decrepit and overcrowded prison cells. Instead, they
> had air-conditioned
> accommodations at the U.S. Embassy. They do not have
> to be "detained" very
> long because the VFA has a one-year deadline for the
> hearings. After that,
> the accused U.S. soldiers can be shipped out of the
> country.
> 
> *Top lawyers*
> 
> Smith and company had top-caliber lawyers defending
> them and the U.S.
> embassy protecting them.  They seemed so confident
> that the defense panel
> presented only five witnesses, the four accused and
> Dr. Teresita Sanchez, an
> obstetrician-gynecologist.  The prosecution, on the
> other hand, presented 23
> witnesses including Nicole.
> 
> Nobody can best describe the difficulties Nicole had
> to endure than Nicole
> herself. She issued this statement on November 1st,
> exactly one year after
> the incident.
> 
> "It wasn't easy for me to file a complaint against
> my rapists. And neither
> was the (legal) system kind to me after I decided to
> pursue the case.
> Instead of taking my side in my fight, our
> government took steps to make my
> situation much harder. I have not received a single
> message of support from
> our woman President, while the secretary of justice
> has even repeatedly
> defended my rapists.
> 
> "During the almost daily trials at the Makati
> Regional Trial Court, I
> experienced the reality that the rape victim is
> raped repeatedly inside and
> outside the courtroom while the case is being tried.
> In the face of all the
> insults and recrimination that I have gone through
> in the past year, only my
> belief in truth and justice and the support of my
> family and of women have
> been my sole source of strength and resolve not to
> surrender. My decision to
> pursue the case should be proof of my conviction
> that Daniel Smith, Chad
> Carpentier, Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis
> deserve to be in prison.
> 
> "They should be made to suffer for the indignities
> they forced me to go
> through. They should be put behind bars. Their
> rightful punishment should
> serve as an example to the whole world and to
> American military personnel.
> 
> "On this day, I am crying out for justice!"
> 
> November 27 will be the day of reckoning for Nicole.
> Judge Benjamin Pozon of
> the Makati Regional Trial Court is expected to hand
> down his decision on the
> Subic rape case.
> 
> But Nicole's case is not just a rape case.  It is
> also a case against the
> presence of U.S. troops in the country, a violation
> of our sovereignty.  It
> is not only Nicole's dignity which was violated. 
> The Filipino people's
> dignity is also trampled upon whenever U.S. soldiers
> conduct military
> exercises in our country; participate in combat
> operations with the AFP; and
> have the gall to rape a Filipina.
> 
> It was not only the bias of the justice department
> that was exposed by the
> Subic rape case, but also the Arroyo
> administration's and the VFA's. In
> fact, the Subic rape case is an indictment of the
> four U.S. soldiers and the
> VFA.
> 
> Indeed, the struggle for justice should not only be
> Nicole's, but also the
> entire people's as well. *Bulatlat*
> 
> 
> 
> (c) 2006 Bulatlat *â–  *  Alipato Media Center
> 
> 
> -- 
> ---Philippine Women Centre of Quebec---
> Under the supervision of the National Alliance of
> Philippine Women in Canada
> (NAPWC), we are an institution of research,
> education, advocacy, and
> capacity building by Filipino women for the Filipino
> community.
> Tel: (514) 678-3901
> 


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