• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Rights group Karapatan has criticized a US Embassy security alert that warned American citizens against affiliating with groups linked to the New People’s Army (NPA).
The alert was issued following an April 19 military operation in Toboso, Negros Occidental, where 19 people, including two American citizens, were killed.
In a press release, Karapatan national council member Raoul Manuel argued that the advisory mirrors state ‘red-tagging’ and endangers civilians by blurring the line between combatants and non-governmental organizations.
While the US Embassy maintained that the warning is necessary due to the NPA’s status as a designated terrorist organization, Manuel claimed the rhetoric ignores international humanitarian law.
“This dangerous mindset of deliberately conflating armed resistance with militant protest has already cost the lives and liberty of so many activists, dissenters and political opponents of the ruling regime,” he said.
The incident continues to draw scrutiny as human rights groups and government authorities offer conflicting accounts of the status of those killed in the encounter.*
