Complaints lodged with CHR on red-tagging

MANILA, Philippines — Rights groups yesterday filed complaints before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regarding incidents of red-tagging and terrorist-labeling of certain groups.

The human rights group Karapatan, along with Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and Kabataan party-list group, urged CHR chairman Chito Gascon to look into the government’s linking certain groups to the communist rebels.

In a letter to Gascon, Karapatan said the government is linking some of the groups to the communists, which has put the lives of its members at grave risk. 

“Red-tagging and terrorist-labeling… have become a standard practice of the government, becoming more brazen by the day,” Karapatan said.

“There is substantial basis for all of us to be alarmed, what with the Duterte government’s staggering disregard for human rights and its advocates,” it said.

Karapatan deputy secretary-general Roneo Clamor said similar groups are exhausting all avenues to air their grievances, including the filing of complaints.

“This CHR complaint and our engagements with the United Nations are part of the measures we are undertaking to end these attacks, to exact accountability and to protect our courageous human-rights advocates on the ground,” Clamor said.

The complaint submitted to the CHR cited instances where the government has systematically targeted Karapatan and its human rights workers. The organization cited the previous speeches of President Duterte openly tagging Karapatan as a “communist front and terrorist organization” in 2018.    

“Suffice it to say, these are all cowardly, recycled and cheap maneuvers. This is in stark contrast to the bravery and firmness in principle exemplified by the individuals and organizations targeted by this government,” Clamor said.      

Clamor accused the National Task Force (NTF) created by President Duterte behind the red-tagging and terrorist-labeling.

“The NTF’s mandate is centered on a smear campaign against human rights organizations, courtesy of taxpayer’s money. Sending officials overseas to spread rumors and make unsubstantiated claims about organizations known to be critical of the Duterte government’s policies sets the bar high for desperation for damage control. It is an utter waste of the people’s resources,” he said.

Clamor said the NTF has made the rounds of diplomatic missions to red-tag specific organizations, particularly naming Karapatan and RMP as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and to label them as terrorists. 

“We enjoin the CHR and all others to conduct a full-blown hearing on these insidious acts of the Duterte administration. It speaks so much of this government that it persecutes people for the exercise of their civil and political rights, and for thinking critically,” Clamor said.