To
The Hon'ble Prime
Minister,
Government of India
Subject: Respecting Dignity and
Rights of All during the Coronavirus Pandemic
Dear Sir,
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an
unprecedented health emergency across the world. The Government of India and
your government has acknowledged the crisis and has undertaken a set of
measures to contain the pandemic, provide testing and the necessary health care
facilities. Controlling the spread of the infection among the population has
emerged as a key step in the management and containment of the pandemic, and
across the country lockdown, home quarantine and similar restrictive measures
have been adopted. At the same time measures are being taken to ensure that
essential services can be available. We acknowledge and congratulate the
government for taking these steps.
HOWEVER,
We, the members of National Alliance
for Maternal Health and Human Rights (NAMHHR), a civil society network, are
deeply concerned about several incidents that compromise citizen’s dignity and
human rights that have been noted in the news:
·
Open violence by police on people out on the streets seeking
essential supplies, finding a way to return to their native places
·
Harassing and beating up of delivery persons and others
associated with supply and delivery of essential goods and supplies
·
Public display of names of persons infected with Covid19
virus
·
Marking and public naming and shaming of people who have
stepped out for their needs by the police
·
Vigilante actions by citizens against health workers, people
seeking supplies, care givers and so on.
·
People with perceived health emergencies are unable to
receive care from hospitals
The tension between the needs of
control and management of the pandemic, and the maintenance of human rights for
all, including health care providers, patients, vulnerable populations and the
public at large has been documented as recently as during the Ebola epidemic in
West Africa several years ago. Experts have cautioned about the need for
ethical quarantine, guard against the stigmatisation of the infected,
respectful and collaborative relationship with the public and so on. We would
urge the government to supplement all efforts
aimed at controlling and managing of
the Covid-19 pandemic with efforts and information to mitigate against possible
human rights abuses.
While appreciating all the efforts
the government is doing to address the corona pandemic and pledging our
fullhearted co-operation, in solidarity with other civil society members, we
draw your attention to the following:
To recognise that
·
Different people have different levels of health related and
economic vulnerabilities and differing needs and anxieties in the current,
emerging and unfolding situation related to the pandemic. Some of the breach of
lockdown restrictionsby citizens may be due to anxieties and fears
·
Restrictions and limitation especially related to lockdown
can lead to various forms of vigilante action by well-intentioned citizens as
well as excessive use of force and coercion by authorities.
·
Heath care workers and infected persons and potentially
infected persons are more vulnerable to stigma and discrimination
·
There are possibilities of disruption of those requiring home
based care like elderly persons, chronically ill people and persons with
disability etc.
·
Some women and others may be at higher risk from domestic
abuse due to the lockdown
·
In addition to physical ‘distancing’ there is need to
reinforce the need for social solidarity at all levels
·
A large proportion of the poor in the country lack secure
shelter and the conditions of a complete lockdown could have disproportionate
impact on their lives
To promote and ensure
·
Provision of essential care for vulnerable populations. This
will require mapping the population and distribution of vulnerable people –
older people, people with chronic diseases, persons with disability, bed-ridden
and terminally ill persons and others. Map their special needs including their
food, supplies, medical and care needs and ensure the supply of these materials
through publicly assured channels.
·
No undue coercion and use of force or violence while
maintaining compliance to home-quarantine and limited movement outside the
house. To brief police and allied public officials charged with maintaining
public order about the need to create public confidence in the good-will of the
authorities.
·
Availability of essential services through mapping of shops
and outlets, effective distribution among users/consumers, supply chains,
informing timings of availability, setting up control rooms for ensuring smooth
operations and trouble-shooting. This needs to be done at the lowest possible
level including rural, semi-urban and urban areas and the information disseminated
actively.
·
Community support and social solidarity among communities is
essential to maintain physical distancing
·
Community support by setting up communitysupport and
coordination mechanisms at the district, sub-district and village level for coordinating
with authorities on the availability and supply of essential services, as well
as ethical quarantine.
·
Public support for those who are ‘at risk’ or whose
compliance is essential like those who are infected or under home quarantine,
health care workers, workers delivering essential services. They need to be
identified and felicitated instead of identified and stigmatised.
·
All helplines for support to women, children and others
facing violence are included under essential services and continue as usual.
·
Setting up tele-medicine facilities for addressing the needs
of persons with perceived health emergencies and widespread dissemination of
this information.
·
Establish district and sub-district level helplinesin
collaboration with community level support groups
·
That the needs of those with shelter related insecurities are
addressed
·
That no patient or person exposed to the Coronavirus is
victimised
·
All families who may be bereaved during this period may be
able to conduct the cremation/burial ceremony maintaining necessary dignity
We hope that you will take cognisance
of these recommendations and take necessary action to balance between
mitigation and containment measures, and the prevention of potential human
rights abuses in the control and management of the Covid -19 pandemic.
Sincerely,
Dr Vasavi Kiro, Dr Y K Sandhya,
Sandhya Gautam, Dr Abhijit Das, Anjani Kumari, Sulekha Singh
National Alliance for Maternal Health
and Human Rights (NAMHHR), India.
Secretariat:
Centre for
Health and Social Justice, Delhi.
Contact: +
91 8800607304
