In fighting COVID-19, don’t forget those behind bars

“Only by coming together will the world be able to face down the COVID-19 pandemic and its shattering consequences… Without concerted and courageous action, the number of new cases will almost certainly escalate into the millions, pushing health systems to breaking point, economies into a nosedive, and people into despair, with the poorest hit hard.

“We must prepare for the worst and do everything to avoid it… At this unusual moment, we cannot resort to the usual tools. Extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. We face a colossal test which demands decisive, coordinated and innovative action from all, for all.”

The powerful appeal came from United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who last Thursday further elaborated on his previous week’s call for global action and solidarity to urgently address the crisis.

Action “based on science, solidarity, and smart policies” was Guterres’ rallying cry, published in an opinion piece in the Guardian. Let me summarize the three points: 

First, suppress the transmission of the new coronavirus infection through aggressive and early testing and contact tracing, quarantines, treatment and measures to keep first responders safe. These essential steps must be combined with measures to restrict movement and contact – despite the disruptions they cause – to be sustained until therapies and a vaccine emerge. All these steps should be guided by the World Health Organization, to ensure the job gets done for all.

Second, tackle the devastating social and economic dimensions of the crisis. The virus is likely to move into the poor and developing countries, where health systems face constraints. “The virus could devastate the developing world and then re-emerge where it was previously suppressed.” The focus must be on people, especially the most affected: women, older people, youth, low-wage earners, small and medium enterprises, the informal sector and vulnerable groups. 

A worldwide recession “worse than in 2009” has been declared by the International Monetary Fund, and Guterres points out the need for a comprehensive multilateral response “amounting to a double-digit percentage of global GDP.” IMF’s funding capacity and those of other international institutions must be expanded to enable them to inject resources into countries that need them.

Third, recover better – not simply go back, he emphasizes, to where we were before COVID-19 struck: with weak health systems, social protection, and public services, inequality (“above all, gender inequality”), and human rights challenges. “The recovery must lead to a different economy. Our roadmap remains the 2030 agenda and sustainable development goals.”

A bit ahead of Guterres’ call, two vital UN agencies made a specific appeal to all governments fighting COVID-19 in their respective countries: “Do not forget those behind bars and protect those working in closed facilities” in their overall efforts to contain the pandemic. The two agencies are the WHO and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

“Prisons and other places of detention are enclosed environments where people (including staff) live in close proximity. Every country has a responsibility to increase their level of preparedness, alert and response to identify, manage and care for new cases of COVID-19,” states a WHO interim guidance, dated March 15, 2020. “Countries should prepare to respond to different public health scenarios, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing cases and outbreaks of COVID-19,” it added.

On March 25, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet raised the alarm. “COVID-19 has begun to strike prisons, jails and immigration detention centers,” she disclosed, urging governments “not to forget those behind bars, or confined in such places as mental health facilities, nursing homes and orphanages.” The consequences of neglecting them are potentially catastrophic, she added.

“In many countries, detention facilities are overcrowded, in some cases dangerously so,” she pointed out, adding such conditions make physical distancing and self-isolation practically impossible. Moreover, she noted, prisoners/detainees are often held in unhygenic conditions. Health services are inadequate – or non-existent – and the virus “risks rampaging” through these vulnerable people.

Bachelet (a medical doctor) gave the following advice to governments: 

– Work quickly to reduce the number of people in detention; (she noted that some countries have already taken positive actions; for instance, Iran had reportedly released more than 85,000 prisoners, and Indonesia had freed 30,000);

– Examine ways to release those particularly vulnerable to COVID-19: older detainees, those who are sick, and “low-risk” offenders;

– Continue to provide for the specific health-care requirements of women detainees, inmates with disabilities, and juvenile detainees.

“Now, more than ever, governments should release every person detained without sufficient legal basis,” Bachelet stressed, “including political prisoners and others detained simply for expressing critical or dissenting views.” Upon release, she advised, people should be medically screened, with measures taken to ensure they receive care and follow up, if needed.

Bachelet reminded governments that, under international human rights law, states have an obligation to prevent foreseeable threats to public health and ensure that all who need vital medical care can receive it.

Here at home, human rights alliance Karapatan, other human rights and peace advocacy groups, and various church leaders have come out with statements supporting Bachelet’s call. Detained Sen. Leila de Lima wrote an open letter to Malacañang’s inter-agency task force on COVID-19 to heed the two UN agencies’ recommendations.

Karapatan urgently appealed for the “mass decongestion of prisons in the country” through the release of prisoners/detainees. As of October 2019, according to a report from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, 380 of its 467 detention facilities were congested at the rate of 450% nationwide. The total number of detainees/inmates then was 133,316, confined in BJMP facilities alone.

(Since the Luzon lockdown, the PNP reported 17,039 people had been arrested for “curfew or disobedience” violations from March 17-29). 

The overcrowded condition, it added, is worsened by the “overall lack of clean water, nutritious food, sanitation, and inadequate medical services – a perfect breeding ground for disease outbreak.”

Specifically, Karapatan and allied rights defenders are pleading for the immediate release of political prisoners, especially the following: the elderly (numbering 47); those sick with chronic, debilitating or terminal medical conditions (63); pregnant women and nursing mothers (among the 100 women detainees); those who are due for parole or pardon; at least one of every detained couple; and “accidental victims” of political arrest. 

The groups likewise called for the dropping of all fabricated or trumped-up charges filed against them – who, in Bachelet’s view, are detained “without sufficient legal basis.”

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