Local alternative media group, Paghimutad Negros, called for accountability from government agencies and the military for allowing illegal arrest, red-tagging, and profiling of journalists in Negros during their meeting with the United Nations Special Rapporteur in Cebu, on Monday, January 29.
Paghimutad, in a press statement, said that during their meeting with Irene Khan, UN’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, they reported attacks against community journalists and called for accountability from the government.
Khan is in the country from January 22 to February 2 to assess the country’s adherence to the UN Declaration on Human Rights and other international human rights instruments on freedom of opinion and expression.
Representatives of Paghimutad, a local affiliate of AlterMidya, met with Khan at the University of the Philippines-Cebu.
Paghimutad stated in their report that these targeted attacks on their organization and other progressive outfits in Negros aim to conceal from the public human rights violations perpetrated by state elements themselves.
Apart from calling for accountability, Paghimutad also recommended the abolition of Executive Order No. 70 which created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
They are also asking for the repealing of the anti-terrorism act and junking of Memorandum Order 32, which “resulted in the disproportionate deployment of police and military forces in the province under the guise of counterinsurgency”, Paghimutad added.*