Governments worldwide failing the vulnerable under Covid-19

South Africa was among several countries around the world being called out for failing to protect its most vulnerable in its Covid-19 response.

This as international and local outrage followed allegations of police brutality, unfair emphasis on policing the poor, and a disregard for human dignity in handling the indigent.

Human rights lawyer Elisha Kunene said he was shocked and disappointed at the injustices he witnessed on several occasions in Yeoville, close to Johannesburg’s inner city and a Covid-19 hotspot. Homeless people who did not make it to various Covid-19 homeless shelters said to be filled to the brim around the city, were allegedly exposed to daily abuse by police who chased them out of their sleeping or begging spots.

Neighbourhood watch bodies also appeared emboldened to destroy or discard property belonging to the homeless, while private security firms were involved in evictions carried out across the inner city, despite a supposed national moratorium on all evictions during the lockdown period.

“I think it has been quite disappointing to see how the lockdowns following the coronavirus outbreak has led to a lot of human rights abuses. I think the reason for that is the implementation of the regulations nationwide is something that has been taken from places like China, which are more experienced, and I don’t think that South Africa has a disciplined enough police force and we don’t have an incredibly disciplined state when nobody is watching,” opined Kunene.

Meanwhile minority civil rights group Afriforum vowed to take on human rights abuses as it lamented the lack of accountability faced by those tasked with enforcing Covid-19 regulations.

The group’s prosecution unit led by former NPA prosecutor Gerrie Nel was assisting victims in various cases of alleged police brutality around the country.

AfriForum’s Head of Private Prosecution, Gerrie Nel Picture: Nigel Sibanda

The unit is assisting Ludwig Gericke, a father who was arrested and allegedly manhandled on 9 May 2020 in front of his wife and young children by two traffic officers at Dwarskersbos for allegedly having contravened the lockdown regulations.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of incidents where law enforcers abuse so-called contraventions of the regulations as an excuse to turn ordinary, law-abiding people into criminals. The focus is not only on the issue of whether the officers were acting in terms of the law, but also on the way they treat members of the public – who, like everybody, are caught up in the abnormal circumstances of the lockdown – in the performance of their duties. Treating someone like a criminal simply because he was walking on the beach (where he believed he was entitled to walk) is irrational and a violation of Gericke’s rights,” says Natasha Venter, campaign manager at AfriForum.

Legal advocacy group Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) recently took on the case of a group of 162 homeless people who were allegedly rounded up by police at the start of the nationwide lockdown and transported to the notorious Strandfontein camp, a tented facility set up by the City of Cape Town. The South African Human Rights Commission has since documented a slate of concerns about conditions at the camp, according to LHR, including inadequate bedding, poor hygiene, severe restrictions on movement, and the inability to social distance.

The alleged victims which went under the name Strandfontein Homeless Action Committee (SHAC) were seeking justice for the alleged lack of respect for the basic human rights of its members, including that they were not consulted on their future accommodation and ability to protect themselves in the face of the Covid-19 threat.

A general view of displaced people who were moved from all around Western Cape to a temporary shelter at Strandfontein Sports Field on Day Ten of National Lockdown on April 05, 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images/Brenton Geach)

Covid-19 hurting freedoms of speech

International group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday published a report detailing various human rights concerns in countries at the epicentre of the global health crisis.

According to HRW, governments have failed to uphold the right to freedom of expression in a number of countries, taking action against journalists and healthcare workers.

This led to ineffective communication about the onset of the disease and undermined trust in government actions, the group said.

The report noted how China’s government initially withheld basic information about the coronavirus from the public, under-reported cases of infection, downplayed the severity of the infection, and dismissed the likelihood of transmission between humans.

“Authorities detained people for reporting on the epidemic on social media and internet users for “rumor-mongering,” censored online discussions of the epidemic, and curbed media reporting.”

The report recommended that governments should fully respect the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and only restrict them as international standards permit. Already in South Africa the government was being accused of flouting international laws for alleged mistreatment of refugees and undocumented immigrants by various NGOs representing this demographic.

Assaults and other abuses rife under lockdown

A man is searched after being chased down by members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the police during a patrol in the Johannesburg CBD, 1 April 2020, during a nationwide lockdown. South Africa’s lockdown imposes strict curfews and shutdowns in an attempt to halt the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Picture: Michel Bega

The Independent Police Investigative Directive (Ipid)  presented statistics before a joint parliamentary committee sitting on justice and security last week.

According to the latest published Ipid statistics, which were two weeks old, there were 828 cases against officers since the lockdown nationwide, of which 276 were related to Covid-19 operations. These included 280 assault cases, 79 cases of discharge of a police firearm, and 10 deaths at the hands of a police officer.

There were also seven cases of corruption.

Gauteng and the Free State had the most cases of assault, with 28 and 56 cases respectively. At a total of 86, the Western Cape was the province with the highest number of cases against police officers related to Covid-19 operations.

Ipid spokesperson Sontaga Seisa said he was not authorised to give the latest data until it was approved for publishing in terms of the Disaster Management Act.

Simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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