UN expert slams ‘red-tagging’ by Philippine military

An independent United Nations expert accused Philippine security forces yesterday of tagging Filipinos as communist rebels without evidence, exposing them to harassment or even murder.

Irene Khan, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, made the allegations at a news conference on Friday a er a 10-day factfinding visit to the Philippines, which is fighting a 54-year Maoist armed rebellion.

Khan said many victims of ‘redtagging’ blamed the multi-agency National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), as well as the military, ‘state security officials, senior government officials, and some media outlets’.

“There is clear evidence that red-tagging and terror-tagging are being practised by security forces as part of their counterterrorism strategy,” Khan said.

Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the government’s National Security Council, rejected Khan’s allegation.

“The government does not condone red-tagging,” he told a separate news conference

The NTF-ELCAC was set up in 2018 with the aim of ge ing civilian government agencies to help the military quash the rebellion.

The military-backed task force has o en labelled activists and journalists critical of the government as communist sympathisers, without providing any evidence.

The practice can result in arrest and detention, and rights groups say some of those accused were later harassed or murdered.

Khan said rights campaigners, humanitarian workers, teachers, youths, health workers and tribal leaders had also said they had been targeted by the practice.

However, Malaya said Khan had been assured ‘that legal remedies are in place’.

Khan urged President Ferdinand Marcos to abolish the ‘outdated’ anti-communist task force.