Demand Justice for Melissa Roxas! Join the Week of Action May 19-25, 2013

Sign the petition calling on President Aquino to compel Philippine authorities to investigate Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas

May 19, 2013 marks the fourth anniversary of the abduction and disappearance of Melissa Roxas, who was abducted on May 19 and surfaced on May 25, 2009 after an international outcry. Melissa’s case made headlines as the first case of such a human rights violation committed against a US citizen in the Philippines under President Obama’s term. As one of the few survivors of abduction by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Melissa courageously went public with her story, seeking justice not only for herself, but for all victims of human rights violations. Melissa filed her case in the Philippine courts, testified in various venues, and fully cooperated with the investigation undertaken by the Commission on Human Rights. Four years after her abduction, we are still fighting for justice for Melissa and all victims of human rights violations in the Philippines.

Just last month on April 16, 2013, the Supreme Court of the Philippines issued a resolution on Melissa’s case, which orders the Philippine authorities to “continue and undertake a deeper probe and investigation of the incidents with the end in view of identifying the perpetrators of the complained abduction and abuses and of the eventual filing of cases for said resultant crimes.” In the preceding month, the Philippines Court of Appeals declared that activist-agriculturalist Jonas Burgos was abducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines. However, despite overwhelming evidence that Melissa, Jonas and so many others have been abducted and tortured by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to this day none of the perpetrators have been apprehended or prosecuted. This typifies the so-called justice system in the Philippines, where notorious human rights butchers like Army Major General Jovito Palparan—described by the National Council of Churches of the Philippines as “[personifying] the brutality and notoriety of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration for its gross, systematic and brazen violation of human rights”—can remain at-large even in the face of a warrant for his arrest for the kidnapping and illegal detention of two university students, due to the lack of political will by the Aquino regime to capture him. As always, the only hope lies in the perseverance of the mass movement to continue demanding justice and organizing for change.

Since 2009, BAYAN-USA has held demonstrations the week of Melissa’s abduction and release, and made the “Justice for Melissa” demand a standard call at all BAYAN-USA’s actions dealing with human rights, the Visiting Forces Agreement, war and militarization. In light of the ongoing impunity in the Philippines, we can not take for granted that the Philippine Supreme Court’s resolution will be acted on by government authorities unless the people demand it!

Please take action now to demand justice for Melissa and all victims of human rights violations. Join us in the following actions, as we count down each day that Melissa was disappeared, culminating in a Day of Action on May 24th, 2013.

Day 1—May 19:

• Sign and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make the Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with: “Melissa was abducted today—May 19, 2009″
• Forward SF CHRP’s Human Right’s Shadow Puppet on YouTube—make it go viral!—http://youtu.be/jlf5mWtq7Rk.
• Download the album “Kultural Guerrillas” by Diskarte Namin—all proceeds go to BAYAN-USA’s human rights campaign, including the Justice for Melissa campaign: http://kulturalguerrillas.bandcamp.com

Day 2—May 20:

• Post a song/music video, poem or visual art in honor of people who have disappeared, such as “Desaparecidos” by Diskarte Namin (http://kulturalguerrillas.bandcamp.com/track/desaparecidos).
• Forward the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with: “Melissa was disappeared against her will and tortured today—May 20, 2009”
• Propagate the J4M Song: http://anakbayanla.bandcamp.com/track/j4m-justice-4-melissa

Day 3—May 21:

• Post a song/music video, poem or visual art in honor of people who have been tortured.
• Continue forwarding the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with: “Melissa was disappeared against her will and tortured today—May 21, 2009”

Day 4—May 22:

• Post of photo or video montage of yourself and members of your organization or friends holding a sign “Justice for Melissa Roxas.”
• Continue forwarding the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with “Melissa was disappeared against her will and tortured today—May 22, 2009”

Day 5—May 23:

• Record and post a video message of solidarity to Melissa and all victims of human rights violations.
• Continue forwarding the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with: “Melissa was disappeared against her will and tortured today—May 23, 2009”

Day 6—May 24:

• Conduct actions in your community.
• Continue forwarding the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with “Melissa was disappeared against her will and tortured today—May 24, 2009”

Day 7—May 25:

• Record and post a video message calling on President Aquino to ensure that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution ordering them to pursue the investigation of Melissa’s case.
• Continue forwarding the petition and gather signatures on petition demanding that Philippine authorities comply with the Supreme Court resolution to continue investigating Melissa’s case: http://www.change.org/petitions/president-aquino-investigate-the-abduction-and-torture-of-melissa-roxas
• Make Justice for Melissa graphic your Facebook profile photo and update your status with “Melissa was surfaced today but justice is still missing—May 25, 2009”
• Make a donation to BAYAN-USA, so we can continue the campaign for Justice for Melissa and all victims of human rights violations: http://www.bayanusa.org/donate

JUSTICE FOR MELISSA!
JUSTICE FOR ALL VICTIMS OF STATE-SPONSORED DISAPPEARANCES AND TORTURE!
STOP MILITARY AID TO THE PHILIPPINES!
END OPERATION PLAN BAYANIHAN! END COUNTER-INSURGENCY PROGRAMS!