File photo: Phando Jikelo/African News Agency(ANA)
As South Africa heads for a military curfew, the United Nations Human Rights Office has sounded the alarm on abuses by police and soldiers enforcing Covid-19 lockdown rules in the country, particularly against the poor.
The organisation's director of field operations, Georgette Gagnon deplored the "highly militarized" operations by the security forces, which has since day one of lockdown a month ago seen rubber bullets and whips used.
“We’ve received reports of disproportionate use of force by security officers, particularly in poor and informal settlements," she said.
“Rubber bullets, tear gas, water guns and whips have been used to enforce social distancing in shopping lines and outside their homes.”
Gagnon cited data from early April showing that by then, more than 17,000 people had been arrested in South Africa for failing to comply with the confinement rules.
She said it was alarming that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was probing complaints against officers that included “murder, rape, assault, discharge of firearms and corruption” and that this pointed to a “toxic lockdown culture”.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said abuses had been recorded from South Africa to Hungary to Jordan.
"Shooting, detaining, or abusing someone for breaking a curfew because they are desperately searching for food is clearly an unacceptable and unlawful response.
So is making it difficult or dangerous for a woman to get to the hospital to give birth. In some cases, people are dying because of the inappropriate application of measures that have been supposedly put in place to save them," she said.
Bachelet stressed that respect for people’s rights "including economic, social, and cultural rights, and civil and political rights”, and protecting these, were “fundamental to the success of the public health response and recovery from the pandemic”.
On Friday, the government will impose a curfew from 8 pm to 5 am as it eases some of the restrictions enforced under the country's total lockdown that started on March 27, considered among the most draconian in the world.
Police minister Bheki Cele has faced weeks of criticism for apparently failing to prevent or condemn excessive force on the part of the police during the past month.
But after police in Mpumalanga made seemingly blasphemous remarks to Muslims caught worshipping inside a mosque in defiance of lockdown regulations on gatherings he issued an apology, and on Tuesday rephrased it after the initial apology caused offence.
"Our members should always execute their duties in line with the police code of conduct. From the beginning of the state of disaster through the lockdown, we have received reports about complaints of incidents where some of our members are alleged to have acted wrongfully," the minister was quoted as saying.
- African News Agency (ANA)
