THE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) issued a bulletin on the red-tagging amid the martial law in Mindanao.

In its human rights bulletin issued June 11, the CHR in Northern Mindanao said red-tagging or red-baiting is a serious human rights concern.

“The society also bears the impact of vilification as it is a form of psychological warfare by creating a social consciousness that political dissidents, whether they are legal or armed revolutionary groups, are one and the same—that they are all ‘communist terrorists’, and enemies of the state’ and as communist terrorists, they are outside the protection of human rights, rule of law, and international humanitarian law,” the statement said.

The bulletin is signed by lawyer Jeanne Ivy Abrina, CHR-Northern Mindanao regional director.

The human rights body also acknowledged that red-baiting has been used by the state as a form of counterinsurgency strategy with the following objectives: sow terror among the civilian population, immobilize officers and members of branded groups, and destroy the progressive people’s movement.

But CHR said classifying individuals and groups as “friends” and “enemies” of the state only creates an environment of suspicion, fear, and division in society.

In some cases, members of indigenous peoples, peasants, are also among the targets of red-tagging, it said. The CHR-Northern Mindanao said it has received a number of cases were individuals being red-tagged fled from their residence from government security sectors.

“We see the effort of the government in suppressing and preventing any acts of terrorism in the country in order to protect its people. However, when no distinction is drawn between terrorists and human rights activists, state actors put the whole civil society under general suspicion,” the statement said.

The CHR said criticizing the government for its gaps in promoting the human rights does not make human groups enemies of the state. The accusations, it said, disregards the fact that “it is government’s obligation to uphold human rights of everyone.”

Demanding accountability from the government should not be construed as acts to destabilize the administration but as a reminder of its sworn duty to people, the CHR said.

The human rights commission urged the government to foster conditions for collaboration rather than creating an unnecessary divide. These acts, the group said, “unfairly discredits the work of human rights organizations."