Enforced Disappearances In The Philippines And The U.S.

During the Rodrigo Duterte and the current Bongbong Marcos presidencies in the Philippines, there was an increase of red-tagging (labeling political opponents as "communist rebels" without evidence) against human rights defenders, political activists, lawyers, clergy, journalists, trade unionists and other targeted groups.

With the increase in red tagging, there has also been an increase in enforced disappearances. Enforced disappearances happen when state agents abduct individuals and refuse to disclose their fate or whereabouts. This denial of information effectively removes the person from the protection of the law.

At least 16 activists and journalists have been victims of enforced disappearances since Bongbong Marcos became Philippine president in 2022.

The Donald Trump administration has adopted enforced disappearances to target undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants who were involved in protests against the bombing of the vulnerable Palestinians in Gaza.

The Trump administration refused to facilitate the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, in spite of their own admission that the Garcia deportation was a mistake and in spite of a Supreme Court ruling that Garcia has a right of due process.

The Trump administration has detained and pushed for the deportation of activists like Mahmoud Khalil, Mohsen Mahdawi, and Rumeysa Ozturk for voicing opinions against the indiscriminate bombing of civilian Palestinians in Gaza, despite many of them also condemning antisemitism. Mahdawi, Khalil, and Ozturk are all in the U.S. legally and have not been charged with crimes.

"Enforced Disappearances Still a Scourge in Philippines" by Carlos Conde for Human Rights Watch
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/11/enforced-disappearances-still-scour…

"Activists Keep Disappearing in Marcos’s Philippines. Military kidnappings have produced a public outcry." by Nick Aspinwall for Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/09/philippines-marcos-disappeared-act…

"‘Alien Enemies’ or Innocent Men? Inside Trump’s Rushed Effort to Deport 238 Migrants. The Trump administration sent them to a prison in El Salvador under a wartime act, calling them members of a Venezuelan gang. But a New York Times investigation found little evidence of criminal backgrounds or links to the gang." by Julie TurkewitzJazmine UlloaIsayen HerreraHamed Aleaziz and Zolan Kanno-Youngs for the New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/world/americas/trump-migrants-deport…

"Who is Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man ICE mistakenly deported to an El Salvador prison?" by Ben Finley for AP News
https://apnews.com/article/who-is-abrego-garcia-e1b2af6528f915a1f0ec60f…

"Call Congress: Demand the release of student activists targeted for deportation." by Jewish Voice for Peace
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/call-congress-demand-the-r…

"American Rendition: Rümeysa Öztürk’s Journey From Ph.D. Scholar to Trump Target Languishing in Louisiana Cell" by Hannah Allam for Pro Publica
https://www.propublica.org/article/rumeysa-ozturk-best-friend-inside-st…

"Trump Administration Arrests Palestinian Activist Who Condemned Anti-Semitism on ’60 Minutes’" by Michael Luciano for Mediaite
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-administration-arrests-palestinian-ac…