Riot police in Thailand regularly meet peaceful demonstrations with heavy force, leading to serious injuries or even death. Activists are calling for reforms and more accountability.
Riot police in Thailand regularly meet peaceful demonstrations with heavy force, leading to serious injuries or even death. Activists are calling for reforms and more accountability.
17 December 2020, 00:01 UTC
Abusive policing and excessive reliance on law enforcement to implement COVID-19 response measures have violated human rights and in some instances made the health crisis worse, Amnesty International said today.
In a new briefing,
COVID-19 Crackdowns: Police Abuse and the Global Pandemic, the organization documented cases in 60 countries where law enforcement agencies committed human rights abuses in the name of tackling the virus. This includes cases where people were killed or severely injured for allegedly breaching restrictions, or for protesting against detention conditions.
In Iran for example, security forces reportedly used live ammunition and tear gas to suppress protests over COVID-19 safety fears in prisons, killing and injuring several people. In the first five days alone of a curfew in Kenya, at least seven people were killed and 16 hospitalized as a result of police operations.