Senate Bill 2121, or the bill to define and punish red marking, aims to criminalize red marking and provide dissuasive sanctions “to close legal loopholes, combat impunity and institutionalize a system of accountability.” In the joint counter-statement of the former NTF-ELCAC officials, copies of which INQUIRER.net were also provided by the NUPL, they pointed out that there was no legal definition of what red marking would be and the penalties that would follow if found guilty. The disinformation campaign “us against the enemy of the state” has led to the escalation of the red marking. Initially, those marked in red were mainly human rights activists, trade union leaders and indigenous peoples. With the population`s freedom of movement restricted, security forces have stepped up their counterinsurgency operations, but have also cast a wider net to include on the “list” those who complain or criticize government policies. These include academics, doctors, artists and lawyers who try to inform the public, defend those arbitrarily charged or provide humanitarian assistance. The latest on the list is a judge who quashed the arrest warrant issued by an independent journalist and trade union leader who was also marked in red and later arrested for subversion. In cases where a state agent is identified as the official behind the tag, Colmenares said: “The court can immediately issue an injunction ordering the general to cease his red marking.” Civil society groups have called for NTF-ELCAC to be funded or abolished. National human rights groups say the working group`s red marking often precedes violence against those marked. Tourists have returned to the islands off southern Thailand amid rising COVID-19 infections.
Meanwhile, the Thai government`s response to the third wave has hit all workers hard, especially legal and illegal migrants inside Thailand. In recent events, Dr. Natividad “Naty” Castro, a community health activist and human rights lawyer, was unlawfully arrested and detained after being repeatedly marked in red for her campaign work. One of the most important targets of the Committee on Non-Philippine Activities (CUFA) red labeling, modeled on the Committee on Un-American Activities, had been Claro M. Recto. [105] An ardent nationalist, he dared to oppose U.S. national interests in the Philippines, as he did when he fought against his military bases at home. During the 1957 presidential campaign, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) conducted black propaganda operations to secure its defeat, including distributing pierced condoms and writing “Courtesy of Claro M. Recto” on labels.
[106] [107] Other luminaries such as Arsenio Lacson, José P. Laurel, and Lorenzo M. Tañada were also targeted. [108] In addition, workers` organizations have also been described as legal fronts for an underground armed movement, and arrested activists have been routinely charged with possession of firearms and ammunition. [55] Terror is a deadly poison for the rule of law. Red marking is one of the methods used by the government to sow terror and besiege rule of law institutions. The erosion of the rule of law marked a turning point in Duterte`s inaugural year, when officials who criticized or opposed government policies such as the war on drugs were removed from key accountability institutions. Political and judicial institutions have been compromised under Duterte`s populist and brutal leadership. Civil society has striven to remain steadfast in protecting human rights and the rule of law. This is part of the expansion of state power with the granting of emergency powers to the president and the appointment of former military personnel to head the main anti-COVID-19 agency, the Interagency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF). Alarmed by the growing number of cases of red labeling, Senate Minority Leader Franklin M.
Drilon proposed a measure that would punish red marking with up to 10 years in prison and ban those convicted of red tagging from holding public office. In data released in 2021, Karapatan said it documented 424 extrajudicial executions, 504 frustrated extrajudicial executions, 1,159 illegal arrests and detentions, and 2,807 illegal arrests without incarceration. Parlade`s relentless red marks, especially from community pantries, have led to renewed calls to defuse the task force. “The Attorney General`s view that there is a loophole in the law, as red labeling is not currently a criminal offense under our laws, makes the passage of SB 2121, which we have filed, imperative. We commend Minister Guevarra`s position for pushing for the adoption of a red marking law,” he added. In a Human Rights Watch video, Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, described how she was harassed and threatened with rape and violence through a red marking. She said you don`t just mark them in red without threat. The legal briefing note, Danger in Dissent: Counterterrorism and Human Rights in the Philippines, points out that this practice often has fatal consequences, with many of those marked in red by state authorities subsequently killed or injured by unidentified attackers. Often, there is no effective investigation and accountability for these killings, or accountability for red marks by government officials. But what is “red marking”? One wonders.
What makes it so dangerous that everyone who has been exposed to it is clamoring for safety? Karapatan is one of the most advanced organizations, constantly attacked by anonymous individuals, the military and police, and the Duterte administration. In March 2019, the group filed complaints about the Duterte administration`s alleged practice of labeling organizations as terrorist. The attacks took various forms, such as a direct mark of President Duterte in his previous speech, as well as tarpaulins and leaflets identifying them as such. [36] In June 2019, Amnesty International called on the Philippine government to stop labeling organizations like Karapatan as “communist fronts.” According to the organization, two of its employees were shot dead by unknown assailants on June 15. Similarly, the next day, Nonoy Palma, a peasant activist, was shot dead by an unknown assailant in the town of Naga, Camarines Sur. Amnesty International has called on human rights defenders and activists to ensure the protection of human rights. [37] However, in December 2019, Cristina Palabay, Karapatan`s secretary general for human rights, received death and rape threats from anonymous editors. Another anonymous sender wrote him various insults and defended the Duterte administration. [38] In August 2020, two Karapatan officers and other activists received death threats. This happened a week after Zara Alvarez was shot dead by an unknown assailant in the town of Bacolod on August 17.
[39] Progressives have long called for an end to red labelling, as it endangers their lives and the lives of their families. One cannot simply deny the existence of the “red marking” because of the number and existing corpses that prove the great dangers of the term. “It would be better if Congress passed legislation that clearly defines and explicitly punishes what is now vaguely called red marking,” Guevarra told reporters Wednesday (April 28). Defend Jobs Philippines spokesperson Thadeus Ifurung explained that such measures to deal with workers` dissent mischievously mark and identify union leaders and members of the public sector as “communists” and threaten their security and right to self-organization as workers. [63] In the Philippines, state authorities have branded human rights defenders, union leaders, public interest lawyers, journalists, political opposition, religious groups, and other activists as “terrorists” and/or “communists,” without substantiated evidence of illegal behavior, in a practice known locally as “red marking.” “If Congress is inclined to criminalize red marking, it should pass the appropriate legislation. This can help reduce the problem of careless endangerment. It`s really something Congress should think about,” Guevara said. So why this attack on the rule of law, given the current government`s near-monopoly on power? Widespread red labeling, violence and extrajudicial deaths under Duterte have surpassed both the authoritarian era of Marcos and the post-Marcos era. Lawyers and judicial officials are increasingly targeted by red tags and deadly violence. Of the 110 lawyers, judges and prosecutors killed in the last 50 years, at least 61 or more than fifty percent have occurred in the last five years alone. There are two main reasons for this. “The judiciary looks at Amparo`s complaint through the prism of criminal law, where the victim`s evidence must be like evidence beyond reasonable doubt or high amounts of evidence to prove who the person [the threats] is,” Colmenares said.
It`s a challenge to identify the people behind red posters, flyers and social media posts, he said. “According to § 6, RA 9851 … Widespread or systematic red marking or incitement to hatred may be considered a crime of persecution of an identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, sexual, sexual or other grounds … ” the group added.
