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Karapatan Secretary General Christina Palabay had sued officials from the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) led by National Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon for allegedly committing war crimes, crimes of crimes against humanity, among other violations, by means of “red label” Karapatan and, therefore, making the workers of the rights targets of assassinations.
Palabay, in a complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman, pointed out that Esperon, who sits as Vice President of the NTF-ELCAC, allowed the publication of several defamatory and offensive statements against KARAPATAN on the Facebook page of the NTF-ELCAC , including allegations that Karapatan is one of the many front organizations of the CPP-NPA and that Karapatan is part of the “CPP-led Open Human Rights Alliance”.
Palabay also sued NTF-ELCAC ex-officio member Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., NTF-ELCAC Strategic Communications Cluster spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, and Deputy Executive Director Margaux “Mocha” Uson of Overseas. Workers and Welfare Administration for labeling Karapatan, along with Communist rebels, as terrorists and claiming that Karapatan was established by these rebels.
“Rather than instilling respect for international human rights law and human rights law (IHL), respondents are the first to violate them by publicly declaring that civilians are part of the CPP (Communist Party of the Philippines or NPA (New People’s Army) and therefore state forces may mistakenly consider appropriate combatants and targets for armed attacks, ”said Palabay.
Palabay cited the deaths of activists Benjamin Ramos, Jory Porquia, Carlito Badion, Randall “Randy” Echanis, Zara Alvarez, as well as Honey Mae Suazo, who was abducted and last seen on November 2, 2019.
All of these activists were killed in the last two years.
“Despite these [deaths], respondents continued to label us in Karapatan, intentionally violating the principle of distinction both at the national level and in IHL. This flagrant disregard for the principle of distinction that results in the death of civilians constitutes the war crime defined in the Philippine Law on Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity, ”Palabay noted.
“Respondents, as members of NTF-ELCAC, are responsible either as superior / commander or for carrying out / ordering / requesting / inducing / tolerating the commission of a war crime. Instead, they even encouraged civilians to attack civilians with their incessant red marks, ”he added.
Palabay said that a war crime is committed when:
- the person exerts influence over another to commit a crime that actually occurs or is attempted or to perform an act or omission as a result of which a crime is committed;
- Induction has a direct effect on the commission or attempted commission of the crime; Y
- The person is at least aware that the crimes will be committed in the ordinary course of events as a consequence of the act or omission.
“Respondents knew that the red label results in the murder of civilians. In fact, their specific objective was to put red labels on people: to misrepresent them as combatants who can become targets of gun violence, ”he said.
Regarding crimes against humanity, Palabay justified the charges by invoking that public defamation and incitement to violence against certain groups may constitute the crime of persecution in humanitarian law and its doctrinal jurisprudence in this regard.
“Article III, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution guarantees the right to security against unreasonable searches and seizures of the person, houses, papers and personal effects. Thus, this constitutional mantle of protection inoculates not only the power of the state over a person’s home and possessions, but more importantly, it also protects the privacy and sanctity of the individuals themselves, ”said Palabay. .
Far from being mere neutral statements, the red label has far-reaching consequences and implications. Now we fear for our lives and safety, as well as for our families and colleagues. Our activities and advocates have been severely restricted by concerns about our security, ”he added.
GMA News Online has sought comment from Esperon, Parlade and Uson on the matter, but none of them responded at time of publication.
However, the NTF-ELCAC had previously argued that they had not red-tagged Karapatan and the Makabayan bloc, and instead called their actions “truth-tagging”. – DVM, GMA News
