DFA checks on US marines in rape case
The US embassy in Manila allowed a group of Philippine officials on Thursday to check on four soldiers who are being held inside the embassy pending a trial on charges of involvement in the rape of a Filipino woman.
The soldiers were among six members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan, initially accused of raping the 22-year-old woman in a van at the former US navy base in Subic Bay on November 1.
Zosimo Paredes, executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), said the four soldiers were temporarily staying at the former postal office of the embassy, a five-minute walk away from the main building.
He said the postal building had a living room, rest rooms, kitchen and bedroom for the soldiers. He said the soldiers, which he met personally, were under 24-hour guard and were issued visitors IDs as non-organic personnel.
Paredes, who is undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said his visit in the embassy lasted for 30 minutes.
The Arroyo administration, worried about the possible rise in anti-American sentiment, has requested the immediate handover of the marines, who were indicted by a local court on December 27 for the rape.
But the US embassy said that the terms of a visiting forces treaty between the two allies allowed for the four men to be kept in US custody.
"They are restricted to quarters, and they have no official working role at the US embassy," the mission said in a statement on its Web site, http://manila.usembassy.gov.
"The terms of the [VFA] allow for the accused to remain in US custody until the end of judicial proceedings."
Filipino officials have met the accused soldiers inside the embassy grounds once before to verify they are in the country.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo is expected to take up the case when he visits Washington next week although his trip will focus on counter-terrorism and arbitration by a US court over a soured airport terminal deal with a German firm.
"The US is taking the government of the Philippines' request for custody of the accused into full account," the embassy statement said.
The marines had just finished two weeks of military exercises with Philippine soldiers in October. In affidavits, five of the Americans disputed the rape allegations, suggesting that sex with one of their group was consensual. Under Philippine law, accomplices in a rape can be accused of rape as well.
Two were cleared for lack of evidence and the Filipino van driver, once seen as a key witness, was later charged as an accomplice.
Criminal cases involving US troops taking part in military exercises and training programs in the Philippines are covered by the VFA signed in 1998.
Leftist groups have protested outside the local court and the US embassy in Manila but the case has not sparked widespread anti-American sentiment. ABS-CBN NEWS With a report from Reuters
The soldiers were among six members of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stationed in Okinawa, Japan, initially accused of raping the 22-year-old woman in a van at the former US navy base in Subic Bay on November 1.
Zosimo Paredes, executive director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), said the four soldiers were temporarily staying at the former postal office of the embassy, a five-minute walk away from the main building.
He said the postal building had a living room, rest rooms, kitchen and bedroom for the soldiers. He said the soldiers, which he met personally, were under 24-hour guard and were issued visitors IDs as non-organic personnel.
Paredes, who is undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, said his visit in the embassy lasted for 30 minutes.
The Arroyo administration, worried about the possible rise in anti-American sentiment, has requested the immediate handover of the marines, who were indicted by a local court on December 27 for the rape.
But the US embassy said that the terms of a visiting forces treaty between the two allies allowed for the four men to be kept in US custody.
"They are restricted to quarters, and they have no official working role at the US embassy," the mission said in a statement on its Web site, http://manila.usembassy.gov.
"The terms of the [VFA] allow for the accused to remain in US custody until the end of judicial proceedings."
Filipino officials have met the accused soldiers inside the embassy grounds once before to verify they are in the country.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo is expected to take up the case when he visits Washington next week although his trip will focus on counter-terrorism and arbitration by a US court over a soured airport terminal deal with a German firm.
"The US is taking the government of the Philippines' request for custody of the accused into full account," the embassy statement said.
The marines had just finished two weeks of military exercises with Philippine soldiers in October. In affidavits, five of the Americans disputed the rape allegations, suggesting that sex with one of their group was consensual. Under Philippine law, accomplices in a rape can be accused of rape as well.
Two were cleared for lack of evidence and the Filipino van driver, once seen as a key witness, was later charged as an accomplice.
Criminal cases involving US troops taking part in military exercises and training programs in the Philippines are covered by the VFA signed in 1998.
Leftist groups have protested outside the local court and the US embassy in Manila but the case has not sparked widespread anti-American sentiment. ABS-CBN NEWS With a report from Reuters
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