Responding to reports that Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape has declared a critical ‘red stage’ in the country due to a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, Amnesty International’s Pacific Researcher Kate Schuetze said: “Papua New Guinea’s health crisis has now reached the level we feared it would reach a year ago with a …
Tag Archives: #COVID-19 #HumanRights
Universal access to vaccines a human right; time of Australia to step up in the Pacific
Amnesty International Australia welcomes the Federal Government’s announcement of an additional $200m to go towards the COVID-19 vaccine roll out in the Pacific in Timor-Leste, but is calling for the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Senator Zed Seselja, to push for universal access, Amnesty International Australia campaigner, Joel MacKay said “It is as …
Amnesty extremely concerned over potential human rights abuses with children being held in solitary confinement due to COVID
Responding to reports that children are being held in solitary confinement or moved to a Queensland watch house following a staff member testing positive for COVID-19, Amnesty International Australia campaigner, Joel Clark said: “Moving children, many of whom are on remand and haven’t been convicted of any crime, to adult watch houses is totally inappropriate …
Virus-hit prisons still full of human rights defenders, as attacks continue
Governments who were lauded for releasing prisoners in response to COVID-19 outbreaks have excluded human rights defenders from the measures and continue to make new arrests of activists, journalists and critics, Amnesty International said today. In a new briefing, “Daring to Stand up for Human Rights in a Pandemic”, which documents attacks on human rights …
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It’s a COVID crisis, but we still have rights
New restrictions, increased police powers and the ability to suspend acts of Parliament have been introduced by the Victorian State Government to deal with a rapidly increasing number of positive COVID-19 cases. We’re all thinking of our family, friends, colleagues and those we don’t know in Victoria as we try to navigate our way through …
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Ignored by COVID-19 responses, refugees face starvation
The inhumane treatment of refugees and migrants threatens to stall progress on tackling COVID-19, Amnesty International said today, warning that overcrowded camps and detention centres will become new epicentres unless urgent action is taken. The organization said that lockdowns and movement restrictions have exacerbated dire living conditions, leaving millions of people at risk of starvation …
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COVID-19 contact tracing app needs robust rights protection guarantees
Amnesty International Australia is calling on the Australian Government to ensure seven key principles are followed to safeguard the right to privacy for users of its new contact tracing app. While many of the steps taken by Australia’s Governments to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have been welcome, the launch today of an app to …
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Digital surveillance to fight COVID-19 can only be justified if it respects human rights
With governments across the world rapidly expanding the use of digital surveillance in an attempt to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, Amnesty International and other leading NGOs have set out strict conditions that must be met to safeguard human rights and prevent surveillance overreach. More than 100 civil society groups joined Amnesty in signing the statement, including …
COVID-19: Prisoners of conscience from Papua must be urgently released
Amnesty Indonesia and Amnesty Australia welcome the decision of Indonesian authorities to release 30,000 prisoners to minimise the risk of infection with COVID-19. Overcrowding and unsanitary facilities have been posing a health threat to Indonesia’s prison population of more than 250.000 prisoners. While the move is welcomed, it must be extended to all prisoners of …
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Measures designed to protect push Indigenous people further to the margins
In response to state and territory governments issuing on-the-spot fines for breaking social distancing and quarantine rules, Amnesty International Australia Indigenous Rights Lead, Lidia Thorpe, said: “Governments are so committed to appearing as though they’re doing the right thing, it is completely blind to the fact that they are making things harder for some of …
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