Subic Rape Case in Court of Appeals
Group urges CA to resist pressure from pro-US parties on Subic rape case
The advocacy group Task Force Subic Rape on Thursday urged Court of Appeals justices to “resist pressure from parties” allegedly seeking to please the US as it comes out with a decision on the rape charges filed against US serviceman Cpl. Daniel Smith.
In a two-page letter to CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr, TFSR executive director Yuen Abana asked the court to uphold independence and integrity of the court.
TFSR also said that the Philippine-American relations should not be one of the subservience by the Philippines to the US.
“We should not avoid convicting a true rapist for fear that it will break the ties that bind the two countries. We hope this country makes history by resisting pressure from parties that seek to be forever pleasing to the eye of the world’s biggest power,” the group said.
Smith, who was a participant in the 2005 Balikatan exercises, was found guilty by Makati RTC Judge Benjamin Pozon for raping “Nicole” on November 1, 2005 inside the Subic Bay Freeport.
In April 2007, the CA 15th Division upheld the legality of Smith’s transfer from the custody of the Makati jail to a detention cell of the US embassy on December 29, 2006, a move which the TFSR branded as “evident American arm-twisting.”
Smith was transferred to the custody of the US embassy pursuant to the December 22 agreement signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney allowing that Smith be detained at the JUSMAG building inside the US embassy. - GMANews.TV
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‘Stand pat on Nicole rape case’
Members of an organization keeping watch over the infamous Subic rape case involving a US Marine and a 22-year-old Filipina known only as “Nicole” staged a picket Thursday in front of the Court of Appeals.
Members of the Task Force Subic Rape are asking justices not to yield to pressure to acquit Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, whom a lower court found guilty of raping “Nicole” in 2005.
“We got information that a justice is preparing the decision to reverse Judge Benjamin T. Pozon’s verdict,” said Yuen Abana of the Partido ng Manggawa, which is part of the Task Force Subic Rape. “We are not entirely surprised because we saw how the US exerted pressure on the GMA [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] government just to have Smith turned over to them after the guilty verdict.”
Smith is detained at the US Embassy in Manila, awaiting the outcome of his appeal.
Lea Patricia Francisco of the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity based in San Francisco, California, another group allied with the task force, also wrote to Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr. to tell him that justice must not be denied to “Nicole.”
The letter was handed over by members of the task force to Vasquez on Thursday.
“After a year-long trial, Smith was convicted of rape and sentenced to serve 40 years in the Philippines on December 4, 2006,” according to Francisco’s letter. “A year and a half later, Smith faces possible acquittal. Today, we stand together in solidarity with Nicole and the Task Force Subic Rape to urge against Smith’s acquittal.”
During the picket before the appellate court’s office in Manila, the members of the task force appealed for justices of the court to have a “sense of fairness and independence.”
They said that some appellate court justices may have enough courage to convict a member of the US Marines, one of the most powerful armed forces in the world.
History of non-conviction
The task force revealed that to date, not one member of the US military was convicted for violating the rights of Filipinos.
Based on claims by the task force, 3,211 different cases were filed against Americans in Subic and Clark from 1980 to 1987, but not one case prospered in court. The US used to have bases in Subic and Clark until the Senate, after the EDSA People Power I uprising, threw out a treaty to extend the stay of the bases there. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo also helped eject the American bases.
Japan and South Korea have penalized and sanctioned American soldiers who committed crimes against their people.
“Japan had its first conviction of a US soldier in 1948 and it has convicted some other US soldiers for the same crime over time. [South] Korea has convicted 84 US soldiers for rape,” said Lotlot Requizo, a member of the task force. Manila Times
The advocacy group Task Force Subic Rape on Thursday urged Court of Appeals justices to “resist pressure from parties” allegedly seeking to please the US as it comes out with a decision on the rape charges filed against US serviceman Cpl. Daniel Smith.
In a two-page letter to CA Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr, TFSR executive director Yuen Abana asked the court to uphold independence and integrity of the court.
TFSR also said that the Philippine-American relations should not be one of the subservience by the Philippines to the US.
“We should not avoid convicting a true rapist for fear that it will break the ties that bind the two countries. We hope this country makes history by resisting pressure from parties that seek to be forever pleasing to the eye of the world’s biggest power,” the group said.
Smith, who was a participant in the 2005 Balikatan exercises, was found guilty by Makati RTC Judge Benjamin Pozon for raping “Nicole” on November 1, 2005 inside the Subic Bay Freeport.
In April 2007, the CA 15th Division upheld the legality of Smith’s transfer from the custody of the Makati jail to a detention cell of the US embassy on December 29, 2006, a move which the TFSR branded as “evident American arm-twisting.”
Smith was transferred to the custody of the US embassy pursuant to the December 22 agreement signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and United States Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney allowing that Smith be detained at the JUSMAG building inside the US embassy. - GMANews.TV
= = =
‘Stand pat on Nicole rape case’
Members of an organization keeping watch over the infamous Subic rape case involving a US Marine and a 22-year-old Filipina known only as “Nicole” staged a picket Thursday in front of the Court of Appeals.
Members of the Task Force Subic Rape are asking justices not to yield to pressure to acquit Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, whom a lower court found guilty of raping “Nicole” in 2005.
“We got information that a justice is preparing the decision to reverse Judge Benjamin T. Pozon’s verdict,” said Yuen Abana of the Partido ng Manggawa, which is part of the Task Force Subic Rape. “We are not entirely surprised because we saw how the US exerted pressure on the GMA [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] government just to have Smith turned over to them after the guilty verdict.”
Smith is detained at the US Embassy in Manila, awaiting the outcome of his appeal.
Lea Patricia Francisco of the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solidarity based in San Francisco, California, another group allied with the task force, also wrote to Court of Appeals Presiding Justice Conrado Vasquez Jr. to tell him that justice must not be denied to “Nicole.”
The letter was handed over by members of the task force to Vasquez on Thursday.
“After a year-long trial, Smith was convicted of rape and sentenced to serve 40 years in the Philippines on December 4, 2006,” according to Francisco’s letter. “A year and a half later, Smith faces possible acquittal. Today, we stand together in solidarity with Nicole and the Task Force Subic Rape to urge against Smith’s acquittal.”
During the picket before the appellate court’s office in Manila, the members of the task force appealed for justices of the court to have a “sense of fairness and independence.”
They said that some appellate court justices may have enough courage to convict a member of the US Marines, one of the most powerful armed forces in the world.
History of non-conviction
The task force revealed that to date, not one member of the US military was convicted for violating the rights of Filipinos.
Based on claims by the task force, 3,211 different cases were filed against Americans in Subic and Clark from 1980 to 1987, but not one case prospered in court. The US used to have bases in Subic and Clark until the Senate, after the EDSA People Power I uprising, threw out a treaty to extend the stay of the bases there. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo also helped eject the American bases.
Japan and South Korea have penalized and sanctioned American soldiers who committed crimes against their people.
“Japan had its first conviction of a US soldier in 1948 and it has convicted some other US soldiers for the same crime over time. [South] Korea has convicted 84 US soldiers for rape,” said Lotlot Requizo, a member of the task force. Manila Times
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