Dear Sir or Madam,

As a follow-up to our 2011 Red-Baiting Conference we cordially invite you to our

Red-Baiting Forum 2012 (on October 19th at UP Balay Kalinaw, Quezon City).

In September 21, 2012,  activists as well as civil society organizations allover the Philippines commemorated the victims of human rights violations during the painful years of martial law under Ferdinand Marcos. Publicly labelled as subversives and communist terrorists, the state structurally harassed and repressed government-critical individuals and groups. Today it is known that the Philippines went through one of their bloodiest chapters in history. However, an essential paradigma of those days survived until today: Red-Baiting.

Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office IPON emphasizes this crucial issue that deals with threats to the existence of civil society organizations and their members. Red-Baiting in the Philippines can be described as a political strategy to accuse, denounce and persecute individuals and groups as members of communist organizations like the CPP-NDF-NPA in order to obstruct their work. The most forceful and extreme examples of Red-Baiting related violations of human rights are enforced disappearances, torture and extralegal killings.

Among the victims of Red-Baiting, human rights defenders are particularly endangered. They become victims of physical and legal harassements because of their peaceful engagement in their demand for human rights. Therefore it is the responsibility of the Philippine state to particularly take measures to protect human rights defenders and provide a situation in which they can peacefully strive for their rights without any kind of repressions.

The forum is designed to gather views and recommendations from various civil society groups and state actors.
Together we want to share perspectives, find common grounds and work out practical steps towards possible solutions.
Best regards,

Jan Pingel

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