MANILA, Philippines — Whoever was the perpetrator behind the killing of an activist in Negros Oriental, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) believes that the dangers have been brought by her being red-tagged on numerous occasions. “The killing of Zara Alvarez is another addition to the alarming string of attacks against human rights workers and advocates in the country. “CHR stresses […] that the act of red-tagging of human-rights defenders alone already constitutes a grave threat to their lives, liberty, and security. Further, tagging human rights workers and advocates as terrorists distorts the nature of their work and makes them open, legitimate targets to attacks and a number of violations,” she added. On Thursday, activist group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan dared Malacañang to prove its sincerity by ordering a probe on the incidents, including other attacks against activists within the past five months.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer August 20, 2020 11:15 UTC