Philippines: A year after the Subic rape case’s promulgation: GABRIELA condemns US-Philippine collusion to deny justice to “Nicole”

A year after American soldier Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was convicted of raping
Filipina “Nicole,” militant women’s group GABRIELA staged a rally in front of the
US Embassy to condemn the collusion of US and Philippine governments in denying
justice to the rape victim.

“The US and Philippine governments robbed the Filipino people of any cause to
celebrate what could have been a landmark victory against US military rape and
abuse. What we instead commemorate is how the Arroyo government sold out our
justice system not to defend the dignity of our women and uphold our national
sovereignty but to protect a convicted rapist and the interests of the US
government,” said GABRIELA secretary general Emmi de Jesus.

On December 4, 2006 Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon handed out a
guilty verdict on Smith. 25 days after, agents from the Department of Interior
and Local Government transferred Smith to the custody of the US Embassy following
an agreement signed by Foreign Affairs Sec. Alberto Romulo and US Ambassador to
the Philippines Kristie Kenney authorizing the transfer.

Government parties to the agreement invoked the controversial Visiting Forces
Agreement (VFA) as basis for said transfer of custody.

“The agreement between the US and Philippine governments allowing Smith’s
transfer of custody to the US is like a marriage between a coddler of criminals
and his all too willing servant, which sought to protect their own vested
interests,” said de Jesus.

De Jesus also said that sexual abuse by American soldiers against women in
countries where US military troops are stationed “is wont to continue so long as
the US government makes it a point to protect its soldiers and host governments
remain subservient to the whims and desires of the US government.”

De Jesus mentioned the case of a 19-year old Japanese woman reportedly gang-raped
last October 14 by four US Marines in Iwakuni City, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan.
Like “Nicole,” the Japanese woman was also raped inside a van near the Iwakuni
Marine Corps Air Station, one of three central US military facilities in Japan.

The US soldiers tagged in the rape are also kept under US custody while
investigations are under way, invoking the Status of Forces Agreement between
Japan and the US, an agreement similar in scope and provisions to the RP-US VFA.

“Because American soldiers, even those already convicted such as Smith, remain
unpunished for the crime they have committed, it is not unimaginable how and why
rape and sexual abuse happen wherever there are US soldiers,” said de Jesus. ###

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