The government of the Philippines is red-tagging civilians who criticize its regime. Red-tagging is the practice of labelling civilians as communists or terrorists in order to legally harass, threaten, or even murder them. This is what the Filipino government is doing to people such as human rights activists or advocates, and it is considered a crime against humanity.

On May 17 and 18, the International People’s Tribunal on the Philippines was held in Brussels. The goal of the tribunal was to investigate and address alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Filipino government against the Filipino people, including practises such as red-tagging.

In this documentary, 21bis reporter Bastiaan Bellens attends the International People’s Tribunal on the Philippines and talks with people who have suffered the consequences of being red-tagged.

Listen to the audio documentary to learn all about it:

Photo: © Bastiaan Bellens
Text: Bastiaan Bellens
Audio: Bastiaan Bellens