Public inquiry on red-tagging launched

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has launched a public inquiry on red-tagging incidents targeting rights defenders.

“This public inquiry is a product of CHR’s proactive approach toward fostering a constructive dialogue across all stakeholders on the phenomenon of red-tagging,” CHR Chairman Richard Palpal-latoc said during the launch yesterday.

“We recognize it as a widespread practice and a matter of serious concern that may pose grave threats to one’s life, liberty and security. We hope this inquiry will help us come up with concrete recommendations to ultimately address the situation,”Palpal-latoc said.

The two-day inquiry, which the CHR said would be a “fact-finding undertaking in aid of investigation,” invited local and international experts and representatives from different rights organizations, who discussed the impact of red-tagging.

The Supreme Court (SC) has declared red-tagging, or  the act of baselessly labeling or linking a person or group to the communist movement, as a threat to one’s right to life, liberty and security.

Among the event speakers were UN special rapporteur on freedom and opinion Irene Khan, who earlier urged the government to take concrete steps against red-tagging; UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Mary Lawlor, UN senior human rights adviser Signe Poulsen, George Andreopoulos of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York and Aua Baldé, chair-rapporteur of the working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.

Among local experts and stakeholders invited to the inquiry were Far Eastern University Institute of Law dean Mel Sta. Maria, Movement Against Disinformation lead convenor and executive director Christianne Grace Salonga, former SC spokesman Theodore Te of the Free Legal Assistance Group and National Union of People’s Lawyers president Ephraim Cortez.