CHR dismisses Roxas raps vs military

The Army leadership yesterday expressed vindication over the kidnapping and torture allegation of suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebel Melissa Roxas against the military after the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) found insufficient grounds to support the accusation.

Col. Antonio Parlade Jr., Army spokesman, said the CHR decision only proves the stand of the military that it had nothing to do with the allegations of Roxas.

“All along we’ve been saying that Melissa Roxas was just making up the allegations. It was never proven that the military, especially the Army, abducted her,” said Parlade.

In a resolution, the CHR noted insufficient grounds to pin down the military in the alleged abduction and torture of Roxas, who claimed to have been kidnapped on May 19, 2009 in Lapaz, Tarlac. Instead, the CHR cited indications that point to the NPA as possible culprit behind the incident.

“As regards the complainant’s belief and allegations that members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines forcibly took Melissa Roxas and companions from Mr. Paulo’s house in Tarlac, held her in captivity and subjected her to physical and mental maltreatment: there is insufficient evidence to support this conclusion, and insufficient evidence to pinpoint individual members of the AFP as the possible or probable perpetrators,” the CHR stated.

The CHR report further stated that there were “strong indications of involvement of the members of the New People’s Army as the perpetrators of the human rights violations against the complainant…”

“The Philippine Army hopes that the findings of the CHR enlighten the public that the AFP, the Army in particular, was not responsible for the abduction and torture of Melissa Roxas,” Parlade said .

Parlade also stressed that as the Army urges some militant groups to submit to the decision of the CHR, the Army leadership reinforces its commitment not to tolerate nor condone any human rights violation and directed the troops to always observe and uphold human rights in all its operations.

Roxas, who is based in the United States, formally filed criminal charges against the military for the alleged abduction. The military denied the accusation.

The military later came out with proofs, including photographs of Roxas while in training with NPA rebels, of her links to the communist armed wing.

“She is not appearing now because of that information against her. She is now being sought by various agencies not only in the Philippines but also in the US,” Parlade said. –Mario J. Mallari, Daily Tribune