March 27, 2020

Letter to the PM for guarding Human Rights



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




No comments: