At one time during the interrogation, a soldier tied a yellow nylon rope around his neck and pulled it up, while another held his torso down. Both his hands were also electrocuted for about 10 minutes. He said someone blew at a plastic straw – the kind used for softdrinks — inserted into his left ear while covering his mouth and the other ear. “I still hear some noise, as though a frog is inside my left ear,” Rodriguez said.
Dr. Reginaldo Pamugas of the Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD) checked on Rodriguez ‘s ears using a device and found small red spots inside the victim’s left ear.
Pamugas examined the victim a day after his release. Pamugas said Rodriguez suffered from blunt trauma (punching and kicking); asphyxiation (hanging by the neck); electric shocks; forced injury on the ear; sleep deprivation and solitary confinement and unhygienic personal condition.
Pamugas also noted psychological forms of torture such as threats of death and harm to family and threats of genital mutilation.
“The physical injuries sustained by the victim are compatible with the alleged date of infliction,” Pamugas said.
Military Operations
The soldiers forced him to join military operations, Rodriguez also alleged.
On Sept. 8, at around 11 p.m., a rope was tied to his waist with the other end held by a soldier. For three days, the soldiers asked Rodriguez to pinpoint NPA camps in the area.
He slept at night without a tent. “Mosquitoes feasted on me,” Rodriguez said, showing the insect bites on his arms and legs. “They were forcing me to identify NPA camps. When I could not, they would beat me up,” he recalled.
On Sept. 11, he was brought back to the military camp where he was beaten up by two men.
On Sept. 16, Rodriguez was again forced to join another military operation, this time without a rope tied to his waist. “They took pictures of me in an area where the soldiers said was an NPA camp. They wanted to make it appear that I guided them to that place,” Noriel said.
The next day, he was told that his mother was coming to fetch him. His mother then was with members of the Tanggulan Youth Network for Human Rights and Civil Liberties, a group had been searching for Rodriguez.
Before he was released, Rodriguez was asked to sign papers stating that he is a military asset. Then, the military accompanied him and his family to their house in Sta. Ana, Manila.
Asked why the soldiers released him, Rodriguez said: “Maybe they became afraid after my picture was shown in the papers. At first, they told me ‘Nobody is claiming you. You have no contact with your family. Even if we kill you, nobody would know’.”
Odel, Rodriguez’s elder brother who also joined the search mission, said the military was pressured into surfacing him. “They were compelled to release Noriel because of the noise we created,” he said. (Bulatlat.com)
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December 11th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
[...] interview with Bulatlat, Noriel Rodriguez recounts his ordeal in the hands of the military. Read related story December 11, 2009, 8:01 PM ARTICLE TOOLS SHARE THIS STORY [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 3:47 am
[...] He was released only after he was forced to sign papers stating that he was a rebel returnee. (Read story…) Filed Under News, [...]
January 28th, 2010 at 9:22 am
what happened to noriel is too much…..this only shows the rotten ways of the government to silent its critics