Amid responses to the Coronavirus pandemic, president Rodrigo Duterte stands out as the most extreme and autocratic response thus far – he has ordered law enforcement officials to “shoot and kill” citizens who defy the coronavirus lockdown. 

RUTHLESS RESPONSES TO THE CORONAVIRUS-CRISIS INCREASES, DEFYING HUMAN RIGHTS

Several world leaders have decided to take controversial authoritarian measures against the widespread global Covid-19 pandemic, making headlines the past few weeks. One of the most recent examples is Turkmenistan’s President Berdymukhamedov, who officially banned the word “coronavirus”, confirming complete denial of the spread of the deadly virus.

Others include Hungary’s Orban who has taken autocratic measures including a bill that gives the president sweeping emergency powers for an indefinite period of time, resulting in Hungary’s status as a democracy to be seriously questioned. President Bolsonaro of Brazil has also famously declared that the virus is nothing more than a “measly cold”, calling preventive measures mere “hysteria”.

These responses have sparked fear about what the consequences of denying or defying health officials’ recommendations might lead to, both in terms of loss of life and in the steer towards more autocratic rules.

DUTERTE ORDERS TO KILL ANYONE WHO DEFIES CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

The most extreme, and arguably worst, response to the health crisis is the recent order from Philippine’s president, Duterte, who has given a “shoot to kill” order to law enforcement agencies.

Based on the latest report from the Philippine National Police, over 17,000 people have been arrested for violations related to the lockdown namely for violating curfew orders. People have taken to the streets in attempts to find food, relief-packages, or to protest against quarantine rules which have resulted in mass hunger and starvation. Reports also include cases of inhumane punishments such as being made to sit in the sun for hours, or being detained in dog cages as a result of breaching the lockdown rules.

Around 57 million residents in the country’s main island, Luzon, are under strict lockdown in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, many of those living in the Manila slums took to the streets on Wednesday April 1st, to protest lack of supplies claiming that they had not received any food packages or otherwise since the lockdown started two weeks earlier.

The same night, on a televised address, President Duterte reprimanded those who has defied the lockdown and openly gave orders to the police and military to shoot people if they were causing trouble: “Do you understand? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I’ll send you to the grave”. 

Duterte has been known in the past to preside over extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, with the Philippines ranking second in the world for the highest number of human rights activists killed yearly (second to Colombia).

Talking directly to those protesting lack of food he said: “I will not hesitate my soldiers to shoot you. I will not hesitate the police to arrest and detain you. Now, if you are detained, I will leave it up to you to find food.”  

AS COVID-19 SPREADS, SO DOES THE CALL FOR THE PROTECTION OF BASIC RIGHTS AND FREEDOM

Amnesty International’s Philippine Section Director said that it was deeply alarming that the president allowed, and even contributed, to this type of unchecked force. He said that the abusive methods, mainly targeting the poor, were further examples of the oppressive approach the government takes against those who are struggling to make ends meet. Furthermore, these measures which result in many people being detained together seem contradictory to what was intended in the first place: stopping the spread of the virus by keeping people apart.

During the response to Covid-19, the world is witnessing stricter and harsher checks on citizens in authoritarian regimes in attempts to control the spread of the virus. Many of these measures also seem to be used as cover for attempts to control the population with many human rights experts calling all governments to “avoid overreach of security measures in their response to the coronavirus outbreak”. They are reminded that “emergency measures should not be used to quash dissent”. Several measures are being enforced indefinitely, proving detrimental to millions of peoples’ rights and freedoms as the virus spreads.

Isabella is Masters student of human rights at Uppsala University in Sweden. She focuses on women’s rights, as well as humanitarian and conflict studies.

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