Pandemic could create 'human rights disaster': UN

The UN rights chief warned Monday that countries flouting the rule of law in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic risk sparking a "human rights disaster".

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on countries to refrain from violating fundamental rights "under the guise of exceptional or emergency measures."

"Emergency powers should not be a weapon governments can wield to quash dissent, control the population, and even perpetuate their time in power," she warned in a statement.

"They should be used to cope effectively with the pandemic –- nothing more, nothing less."

Her comments came after more than 200,000 people have perished in the pandemic and nearly three million have been infected worldwide by the novel coronavirus since it surfaced in China late last year.

Bachelet acknowledged that states have the right to restrict some rights to protect public health, but she insisted that any restrictions should be necessary, proportionate and non-discriminatory, and also limited in duration.

"There have been numerous reports from different regions that police and other security forces have been using excessive, and at times lethal, force to make people abide by lockdowns and curfews," she said, lamenting that "such violations have often been committed against people belonging to the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population."

"Shooting, detaining, or abusing someone for breaking a curfew because they are desperately searching for food is clearly an unacceptable and unlawful response.

"So is making it difficult or dangerous for a woman to get to hospital to give birth."

- 'Incalculable damage' -

"In some cases, people are dying because of the inappropriate application of measures that have been supposedly put in place to save them," Bachelet said.

She also decried the mass arrests in some countries over curfew violations as "both unnecessary and unsafe."

"Jails and prisons are high risk environments, and states should focus on releasing whoever can be safely released, not detaining more people."

The UN rights chief also warned that efforts to rein in dangerous misinformation around the pandemic was in some cases being used as an excuse to crack down on legitimate free speech.

"It is important to counter misinformation, but shutting down the free exchange of ideas and information not only violates rights, it undermines trust," she said.

"Undermining rights such as freedom of expression may do incalculable damage to the effort to contain COVID-19 and its pernicious socioeconomic side-effects," she warned.

Bachelet also insisted that any exceptional measures or state of emergencies introduced in the name of fighting COVID-19 should be subject to proper parliamentary, judicial and public oversight to avoid abuses.

"If the rule of law is not upheld, then the public health emergency risks becoming a human rights disaster, with negative effects that will long outlast the pandemic itself," she said.

Agence France-Presse

Xi endures lonely red-carpet APEC welcome in PH

Philippine President Benigno Aquino promised to be the "perfect host" to all leaders attending a regional summit, but a long and lonely red carpet welcome walk for China's Xi Jinping on Wednesday betrayed their nations' icy ties.

Aquino led the heads of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group along a red carpet laid throughout the summit venue in Manila to a stage where they gathered for an opening ceremony.

Xi and Chile's Michelle Bachelet were in the front row alongside Aquino.

But Aquino conversed only with Bachelet, laughing and chatting amiably, leaving Xi to plod sombrely alone through the sprawling convention centre with nobody to talk with.

The awkward walk, which lasted four minutes and seven seconds, ended when Xi entered the hall for the opening ceremony and an unidentified official approached him.

China and the Philippines are locked in a bitter diplomatic row over rival claims to parts of the South China Sea.

The Philippines had feared Xi may snub the summit because of the dispute.



When asked why Aquino had not moved to talk with Xi and whether it could be interpreted as a snub, Philippine presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma declined to respond directly.

"It was a long walk, your question might be speculative," Coloma said.

But Coloma said the two leaders had before the walk held a "warm and cordial" conversation for two minutes, although this was not captured on video.

When world leaders meet at any event, body language and personal interactions are often closely watched as a means of gauging a bigger picture on diplomatic relations.

When Xi was APEC host last year, a handshake with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe highlighted the longstanding and deep-seated tensions between their two nations.

Xi did not smile or speak, turning away from Abe to face the cameras even before the translator had finished speaking, and looked distinctly unimpressed.

Netizens quickly compared the pair to Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore -- Abe taking the role of the miserable, downtrodden donkey of the AA Milne novels.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Chile counts cost of 'nightmare' quake

COQUIMBO, Chile - Traumatized Chileans described Thursday the terrifying moment a powerful earthquake hit, killing at least 11 people and triggering tsunami waves that ravaged long stretches of the coast.

The 8.3-magnitude offshore earthquake Wednesday evening was the sixth strongest in the history of geologically volatile Chile and the most powerful anywhere in the world this year, officials said.

Close to one million people were evacuated from Pacific coastal areas as a precaution as Chile sounded a tsunami alert, with warnings issued as far away as Japan and New Zealand.

Residents took refuge on high ground as aftershocks jolted the region all night and into Thursday.

Maria Zamorano, 60, recounted how she and her large family ran from the shoreline in Coquimbo to save themselves from the surging tsunami waves.

"If we had stayed here we would have perished," she told AFP.

The quake occurred at a shallow depth and the epicenter was 228 kilometers (about 140 miles) north of the capital Santiago, a city of 6.6 million people, where there were scenes of pandemonium as thousands fled swaying buildings.

In the hours that followed, tsunami waves of up to 4.5 meters (15 feet) came crashing onshore in Coquimbo region, 400 kilometers north of Santiago, causing extensive damage to the region's main port.

Fishing boats, trucks, cars and the remains of dozens of houses were among the debris bobbing up and down in Coquimbo city's waterfront on Thursday.

There were similar scenes in the badly hit coastal town of Illapel.

"It was a nightmare," Maria Ramirez told AFP as she swept up debris outside her house.

"We felt the tremors for a long time, too long. And then all the aftershocks -- it was terrible," she said.

"I couldn't stay standing, but luckily we made it out alive."

- Ring of fire -

President Michelle Bachelet headed to the quake-hit area Thursday to assess the relief efforts and Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was ready to help.

"We know this is a very difficult situation," Bachelet said after meeting a group of local fishermen in Coquimbo.

"But we wish to salute the enormous cooperation of the population which ensured that -- despite the scale of this earthquake -- there are thankfully few victims."

The most recent toll from the quake stood at 11 dead, with nine others injured, according to National Emergency Office (ONEMI) director Ricardo Toro.

The last known victim was a man killed in Coquimbo.

At least 526 homes were damaged in the quake, most of them in the Coquimbo region, according to the ONEMI. A state of emergency was declared in the area, Interior Minister Jorge Burgos said.

Chile lies on what is known as the "Ring of Fire" -- an arc of fault lines that circles the Pacific Basin and is prone to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

In February 2010, an 8.8-magnitude quake off the southern Chilean coast killed more than 500 people and inflicted an estimated $30 billion in damages.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had warned that tsunami waves were possible this time in French Polynesia, Hawaii and California, as well as smaller waves as far afield as Japan and New Zealand.

A minor tsunami was monitored in northern Japan early Friday, authorities there said.

- 'Horrific moment' -

In Illapel, a town of 30,000, daybreak revealed the damage done, with power knocked out, shacks destroyed, store shelves overturned and the local cemetery a chaos of broken crosses, vases and coffins.

"It was the most horrific moment, a terrible thing," local resident Ana Cortes, 35, told AFP. "Everything just kept moving, for the longest time."

Facebook said it had activated a geolocation tool allowing people in Chile to reassure friends and loved ones.

The Safety Check tool is accessed through Facebook's regular interface, and lets members check whether their contacts are in a disaster zone, signal their own presence and let others know they are safe and well.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com