“In light of the Court of Appeals 14th Division’s dismissal
of Karapatan’s amparo and habeas data petition, more cases of red-tagging have
been reported in various parts of the country. Karapatan Central Visayas
chairperson Phoebe Zoe Sanchez, also a professor in UP, recently received a
death threat and women human rights lawyers in Mindanao were harassed in their
home. People’s lives are on the line and the Duterte regime’s vindictive and
fascist policies continue to fuel and fund the attacks directed at human rights
defenders and progressive groups,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay
said.
“In light of the Court of Appeals 14th Division’s dismissal
of Karapatan’s amparo and habeas data petition, more cases of red-tagging have
been reported in various parts of the country. Karapatan Central Visayas
chairperson Phoebe Zoe Sanchez, also a professor in UP, recently received a
death threat and women human rights lawyers in Mindanao were harassed in their
home. People’s lives are on the line and the Duterte regime’s vindictive and
fascist policies continue to fuel and fund the attacks directed at human rights
defenders and progressive groups,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay
said.
In Cagayan de Oro City, human rights activist and lawyer
Beverly Musni, whose daughters are also lawyers, reported that a malicious
streamer tagging her and several other persons as members and recruiters of the
New People’s Army (NPA) regional unit committee was placed outside her house in
a subdivision.
Known as legal representatives of political prisoners in
court, the Musni family has experienced incidents of red-tagging before, but
according to Beverly, attacks and malicious materials placed on their property
has never happened before. As per initial reports, Beverly’s house helper
noticed a man pointing a flashlight towards their home on the evening of June
26, 2019. A day after, on the 27th, they noticed the malicious streamer placed
within the premises of their house.
Meanwhile, on the same day in Cebu, Karapatan Central
Visayas Chairperson Dr. Phoebe Zoe Sanchez received two death threats that was
sent by an unknown individual with mobile number 09883127563. In the messages,
Sanchez was blatantly threatened with death – “Mrs. phoebe sanchez inihap na lang adlaw nimo dinhi sa kalibutan
condolence sa imong pamilya (Mrs. phoebe sanchez your days in this world
was already numbered, condolence to your family)” and “Phoebe sanchez rest in
peace.”
“Karapatan strongly condemns these orchestrated attacks on
human rights activists. These are indicative of a worsening scenario where no
one is spared. These incidents endanger the lives, liberty and security of
human rights advocates and although perpetrators cowardly hide behind
anonymity, their intentions of silencing dissent remains clear,” Palabay added.
According to the Karapatan official, if lawyers and leaders
can easily be subjected to harassment and intimidation, then the government can
effortlessly harm other human rights advocates working in areas outside Metro
Manila. It can be remembered that since the start of June 2019, a number of
activists and human rights defenders were killed by either suspected soldiers
or police in various regions such as Bicol and Negros.
“We reiterate that these are not isolated incidents, but are
part of an elaborate and sinister plan and attempt to discredit, demoralize,
and silence human rights advocates. We have seen the pattern of how red-tagging
lays the pretext for more attacks, even resulting to cases of extrajudicial
killings. In the same vein, we will continue to exhaust all mechanisms to
provide protection for human rights defenders while tirelessly standing against
this government’s iron hand. There is an infrastructure of impunity in this
country that ensures the perpetrators remain scot-free, but there is also a
movement intent on exacting justice and accountability for all the crimes
committed by this murderous government,” Palabay concluded.