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The United Nations Office for Human Rights says South Africa has created a “culture of toxic closure” through aggressive and aggressive enforcement by the police.
On Monday, Georgette Gagnon, director of field operations and technical cooperation for the UN Human Rights Office, highlighted a “highly militarized” police response to Covid-19 in South Africa.
“We have received reports of disproportionate use of force by security officers, particularly in poor and informal settlements,” he said.
“Rubber bullets, tear gas, water pistols and whips have been used to impose social distancing on business lines … and outside their homes.”
According to the UN, more than 17,000 people have been arrested in South Africa for violating blockade regulations.
Unacceptable response
The Independent Police Investigation Directorate (IPID) was investigating allegations of “murder, rape, assault, discharge of firearms and corruption,” Gagnon said.
This, he added, created a “culture of toxic confinement.”
The message came after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, emphasized that emergency powers “should not be a weapon that governments can wield to quell dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate his time in power. “
“Shooting, stopping, or abusing someone for breaking the curfew because they are desperately looking for food is clearly an unacceptable and illegal response.
“So, it is difficult or dangerous for a woman to come to the hospital to give birth. In some cases, people die due to the inappropriate application of measures that have supposedly been implemented to save them,” she said.
IPID investigations
Just a week after South Africa’s national closure, IPID reported that it was investigating three deaths, allegedly at the hands of the police.
The family of Collins Khosa de Alexandra, allegedly beaten to death by police during the shutdown, will approach the High Court in an attempt to compel the government to intervene in the alleged heavy hand.
This followed the rejection of his request for direct access to the Constitutional Court last week.
“This case deals with civilians killed, tortured and subjected to other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment during the national closure,” reads court documents.
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