CHR cheers incoming Security adviser's call to end red-tagging

The Commission on Human Rights on Saturday welcomed incoming National Security Adviser Dr. Clarita Carlos' call to end red-tagging, and expressed support for her proposal for government to focus on addressing inequality that breeds insurgency.

In a statement, CHR executive director Atty. Jacqueline de Guia pointed out that red-tagging can be used to make the "enemies of the state" legitimate targets of government's coercive power.

Red-tagging "involves the characterization of most groups on the left of the political spectrum as 'front organizations' for armed groups whose aim is to destroy democracy' and as 'enemies of the State' making them as legitimate targets," De Guia said quoting former UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Philip Alson.

In the past, however, human rights defenders, activists, media, advocacy groups, and sectoral representatives among others have also been at the receiving end of red-tagging, she added.

According to De Guia, the CHR has long been warning against the harms of red-tagging, which ranges from harassment and intrusion to one’s right to privacy, to graver ones that include unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, injuries, and even killings.

Instituting a policy barring red-tagging will go a long way in protecting the life, liberty, and security of various individuals and groups, especially those unfairly labelled, the CHR official said.

Likewise, De Guia welcomed the proposal from Dr. Carlos that the government trains its efforts on addressing inequalities and lack of opportunities on the ground that breed insurgency. —LBG, GMA News