* Hundreds of thousands arrested, detained amid lockdown
* Police use whips and tear gas against poor in South Africa
* About 80 countries have declared states of emergency
* Police may have killed more than virus in Kenya
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, April 27 (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights office
voiced concern on Monday about more than a dozen countries that
have declared states of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic
where police have arrested or detained hundreds of thousands of
people and killed others.
"Emergency powers should not be a weapon governments can
wield to quash dissent, control the population, and even
perpetuate their time in power," U.N. High Commissioner for
Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that
denounced shootings and detentions without being specific.
A top official from her office said about 80 countries have
declared emergencies due to the new coronavirus, including 15
where the allegations were deemed most troubling.
They were: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, the Philippines,
Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Peru, Honduras,
Jordan, Morocco, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Iran and Hungary.
However, Georgette Gagnon, director of field operations,
added at a virtual briefing in Geneva "there are probably
several dozen more we could have highlighted".
"A main concern on exceptional emergency measures is what
has been described as a toxic lockdown culture in some
countries," Gagnon said. "As the High Commissioner highlighted,
police and other security forces are using excessive and
sometimes deadly force to enforce lockdowns and curfews."
Some of those countries have arrested and detained tens of
thousands of people for violation of confinement measures linked
to the pandemic, with the Philippines topping the list with
120,000 apprehended for curfew violations in the past 30 days.
In the case of Kenya, Gagnon said that authorities were
investigating 20 cases related to deaths linked to police
conduct in implementing curfew measures. The country has
reported 14 COVID deaths to the World Health Organization.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has apologised for police violence.
In South Africa, the U.N. has received reports of police
using rubber bullets, tear gas, water bombs and whips, to
enforce social distancing, especially in poor neighborhoods.
Thirty-nine complaints including murder, rape, use of fire arms
and corruption are being investigated, Gagnon said.
Police have described the use of whips as unacceptable.
In Nigeria, OHCHR has received reports that security forces
killed 18 people in relation to COVID enforcement measures.
Nigerian authorities have attributed some deaths to prison
violence. She also raised concerns about police extortion in Africa.
"Those who cannot pay bribes, poor people, are taken to
mandatory quarantine centres although there is no indication
that they have come into contact with someone testing positive
to COVID."
Gagnon, asked about China's record during the crisis, said:
"The office has received reports of censorship on and offline,
intimidation, arrest and apparent detention of dissenting voices
such as doctors, journalists, human rights defenders and members
of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party)." The office was liaising
with China on around half of dozen of those cases, she said.