By: Roman R.

Sarmiento Jr II
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4 CS
1 MO
VIE
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ANSWER
CONTAGION
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ANSWER

CULION
TRIAL AND TERROR:
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
IN THE MIDST OF COVID-19
PANDEMIC
Starring:
IB Bagas
Joel Benitez
Roman Sarmiento
INTRODUCTION
Pandemic: Historical Perspective
Pandemic: Historical Perspective
 Covid 19 and Human Rights
Three rights are at the frontline in the current
pandemic

1 2 3
Right Right Right
to to to
Life Health Travel
 Filipino president Duterte told the country
in a public address that lockdown violators
could be shot.

South African police also used physical

punishments, water cannons, and rubber
bullets on people violating restrictions.

In India migrant worker were sprayed with

a chemical solution containing bleach to
1
“disinfect them. Right
to
In Iran possibly 36 prisoners were killed Life
who were protesting in fear of their risk of
contracting coronavirus.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/human-rights-abuses-enforcement-coronavirus-security-measures
 Counterfeit medical products deny patients
proper medical treatment and are harmful to
their health. 2
Many countries have been unable to Right
to
operationalise the right to health to enable Health
available, accessible, acceptable and good
quality PPE, diagnostic testing, contact
tracing and healthcare services.

In countries like the USA, those without

medical insurance are being denied access
to treatment or facing prohibitive user fees
for basic COVID-19 treatment, resulting in
inequitable mortality.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.603875/full
https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/9/e003359
 In Brazil Police are also using helicopters to
create sand storms to drive people off of the
beaches.
3
In the Philippines, police have put people in
Right
public animal cages, and subjected others to
to physical punishments which the police Travel
video and then post online to shame the
violators.

Videos of quarantine violators from India

and Pakistan show young and old men
being forced to crawl, do squats, and being
beaten.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/human-rights-abuses-enforcement-coronavirus-security-measures
 Emerging Human Rights Challenges

Inequality,
Impact of the crisis on
lives and livelihoods
Discrimination, and
Exclusion

Peace and
Participation and
Security and the
Civic space
Rule of Law
 Impact of the
crisis on lives and
livelihoods
 Inequality,
Discrimination, and
Exclusion
Participation and
Civic space
 Peace and
Security and the
Rule of Law
 Cases

Taguiwalo, et al. v. Sec. Duque, et al.

G.R. No. 252556
Petitioners in this case seeks to compel the government
to conduct proactive Covid-19 mass testing.
The Court held that courts have no authority to issue a
writ of mandamus, no matter how dire the emergency,
without a demonstration that an official in the
executive branch failed to perform a mandatory,
nondiscretionary duty.
 Cases
Borrowdale v
Director-General of Health
Mr Andrew Borrowdale commenced proceedings
against the Director-General of Health (DGH) and
the Attorney-General seeking judicial review of the
restrictions imposed by the New Zealand
Government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The restrictions required New Zealanders to be
confined to their homes from 26 March 2020 until
13 May 2020.
 Cases
Borrowdale v Director-General of Health -
[2020] NZHC 2090 (Decision rendered by the
Court of New Zealand)
The Court declares the requirement that New
Zealanders stay at home for the 9 day period
between 26 March and 3 April was justified, but
unlawful. All other challenges to legality of early
COVID-19 response fail.
 Six Key Human Rights Messages

1. Protecting people’s lives is the priority; protecting

livelihoods helps us do it.
2. The virus does not discriminate; but its impacts do
3. Involve everyone in your response
4. The threat is the virus, not the people
5. No country can beat this alone.
6. When we recover, we must be better than we were
before.
 Conclusion

• Socio-cultural perspetcive
• Vulnerability
• Resiliency
We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.
Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine might not be.
• For some, quarantine is optimal: a moment of
reflection and re-connection
• For others, this is a desperate crisis.
• For others, it is facing loneliness.
• For some, peace, rest time, vacation.
• Yet for others, Torture: How am I going to pay my
bills?
Thank you and keep safe!