3 UN Rapporteurs censure PH govโt on red-tagging
Environmental Defenders Congress
July 27, 2023
๐๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด' ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ 7 ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.
Three United Nations Special Rapporteurs delivered a compelling joint communication to the Philippine government on May 8, 2023, expressing "serious concerns over the criminal indictment and harassmentโ faced by seven dedicated Indigenous rights and environmental defenders in the Philippines who advocate for Indigenous peoples, land, and environmental rights: Mr. Florence Kang, Mr. Nino Joseph Oconer, Ms. Lucia Lourdes Gimenez, Ms. Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, Mr. Windel Bolinget, Mr. Stephen Tauli, and Ms. Sarah Abellon Alikes.
Following UN protocols, the communication remained confidential for 60 days before being made public, allowing the Philippine government ample time to respond. It was posted on the website of the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders on July 19, 2023.
In their powerful message, Mary Lawlor, the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, David R. Boyd, the Special Rapporteur on environmental rights, and Josรฉ Francisco Cali Tzay, the Special Rapporteur on Indigenous peoples' rights, expressed serious concern over the allegations of rebellion charges that had been brought against the defenders for their alleged involvement in an armed ambush on soldiers of the Philippine Army in October 2022. In its indictment, the Philippine court had accused the seven defenders of being part of a larger armed group, and of aiming to overthrow the government.
The Special Rapporteurs also expressed grave apprehensions over the red-tagging of the defenders on social media and the portrayal of their work as a threat to national security, noting that such a portrayal places the defenders at a higher risk for harassment and attacks.
The Rapporteurs also urged the government to address the allegations promptly and to take steps to ensure the safety and protection of human rights defenders in the country.
โThe international community awaits the Philippine government's response and expects concrete actions to create a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders to carry out their vital work without fear of harassment or retaliation,โ the UN personalities said.
The communication also specifically noted earlier official UN reports that expressed concerns on the red-tagging of human rights and environmental defenders:
- The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders wrote a report to the Human Rights Council called "Final warning: death threats and killings of human rights defendersโ (A/HRC/46/22). In that report, she noted that being tagged as โredโ or communist was a serious threat, and that some defenders who had been so tagged had been murdered.
- A report by the previous High Commissioner for Human Rights, presented at the 44th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2020, which noted how red-tagging has been a big threat to civil society and freedom of expression for decades (A/HRC/44/22). People who work to protect human rights have been badly affected by these false accusations, the report said.
- A statement delivered at the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council in March 2023, the current High Commissioner for Human Rights also raised similar concerns, calling for โa safer environment for civil societyโ and the end of โpolitically motivated chargesโ against human rights defenders.
In its post on its website on July 19, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders noted that โsince the communication was sent, an Abra Regional Trial Court granted a motion to quash the rebellion charges (on 11 May 2023) due to lack of probable cause. The court also ordered the quashing of all warrants issued against the seven human rights defenders. Unfortunately, the smears have continued.โ
It also made special mention of the fact that the Philippine Anti-terrorism Council (ATC) had, on July 10, designated Ms. Sarah Abellon Alikes, Ms. Jennifer Awingan-Taggaoa, Mr. Windel Bolinget and Mr. Stephen Tauli as โterrorist individualsโ.
Read the communication here: https://srdefenders.org/philippines-criminal-charges.../