CHR condemns Red-tagging of HR groups

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Friday condemned the rising incidents of Red-tagging of human rights (HR) groups, civil society organizations and individuals, even as the country battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CHR said they had been receiving numerous reports of such Red-tagging, which they said was a “slippery slope” that often lead to harassment, unlawful arrests, torture and threats to life.

“Red-tagging is a slippery slope as it may trigger a number of human rights violations,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said.

She also reminded the government that it was no longer illegal to be a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines, or to believe in the principles of communism, since the country’s antisubversion law was repealed in 1992. —Patricia Denise M. Chiu