Under the Cover of the Pandemic, States Cracked Down Even Harder – NewsClick

[Peoples Dispatch brings you a series of articles and videos on 2020, a momentous year that saw humanity face unprecedented challenges. The beacon of hope remained the historic resistance mounted by peoples movements, and the care and solidarity they epitomized, proving yet again that our collective struggles alone can dismantle and end oppression. You can read the full serieshere]

2020 will likely go down in history as the year of the great lockdown. As the coronavirus spread like wildfire, millions were forced into their homes to curb the transmission of the deadly virus. Millions more were forced to remain at their posts, in hospitals, sanitation plants, grocery stores, the fields, care facilities and other front line work posts.

With the adverse situation, governments and political leaders made vague calls for national unity to overcome the pandemic. Some governments were forced to make mild concessions, enacting rent moratoriums, relaxation of debt payments, and sometimes even bolstering previously gutted national health systems. However, this honeymoon of national unity and togetherness did not last long in most countries.

In many countries, especially those already with bad track records for suppression of dissent and criminalization of protest, the pandemic and the lockdowns served as justifications for governments to tighten their grip on society and unleash new, unprecedented campaigns of repression against historic enemies of the state and against all those taking the streets to protest.

The lockdown conditions provided the perfect cover for selective arrests and dulled the possibility of a mass campaign on the streets rejecting such targeted acts of criminalization. In countries such as India, Thailand, Colombia, Palestine, the US and others, we saw a sharp uptick in state repression of those who have dared to fight for a better future.

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Indiacontinued its repressionof political opposition and minorities and used the COVID-19 related lockdown to advance its anti-people agenda. In the beginning of the year, it stood by during a vicious campaign against those protesting the citizenship laws. This campaign ultimately led to large-scale violence against minorities in the capital Delhi. The government used the violence and COVID-19 outbreak to not only disrupt the months-long protests but also, under the watch of Home minister Amit Shah, the Delhi police targeted a large number of leaders of the anti-citizenship law campaign and arrested them, blaming them for the violence. Most of them were charged with the draconian anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). The BJP-ruled state of Uttar Pradesh took a similar approach against the protesters.

Student leaders such asNatasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita, Sharjeel Imam andpolitical activistsincluding Umer Khalid, Ishrat Jahan, Khalid Saifi, Safoora Zarger and Kafeel Khan among several otherswere arrested for their alleged role in the Delhi riots. Most of them are still in jails without being formally charged for months now.

The Modi government used COVID-19 related lockdowns to arrest human rights activist and journalistGautam Navlakhaand scholarAnand TeltumbdeinAprilunder the same draconian UAPA for their alleged involvement in Bhima Koregaon case. The government arrested 83 years old human rights activist Stan Swamy in the same case in October 2020. Similarly the cases of 79-year-oldVaravara Rao, in prison since 2018, and G.N. Saibaba, whois 90% disabled and has been in prison since 2017, have raised great concern. In all these cases, the government and courts have refused to consider the concerns raised by family members about their advanced age and vulnerability to COVID-19 infection in prison.

In several other cases, the courts accepted arguments by the police and the government, and ignored procedures and established conventions to deny bail. The police and government used media, both social and conventional, to push campaigns terming arrested activists and journalists critical to its policies as urban naxals or anti-nationals. They have similarly vilified minorities and justified the blatant misuse of state machinery and violation of peoples human rights.

The Palestinian struggle for the right to self-determination faced increased repression in the year 2020 with the Netanyahu-led Zionist regime. His administration used its proximity to fellow imperialist powers, to threaten formal annexation of around one third of the occupied West Bank in the name of Trumps so-called deal of the century and to attempt to isolate the Palestinian people within the larger Arab world through the so-called normalization deals with some of the Arab countries.

The year saw a number of killings of the innocent Palestinians. The murder of 32-year-old Iyad Halaq, 27-year-old Ahmed Erekat, 29-year-old Mustafa Abu Yaacoub and13-year-old Ali Ayman Abu Aliyawere condemnedinternationally. UN human rights expertscondemnedthe killing of Abu Aliya and called for an independent investigation and expressed that they were deeply troubled by the overall lack of accountability for the killings of Palestinian children in recent years. Furthermore they highlighted that Abu Aliya was the sixth Palestinian child living in the West Bank to be killed by Israeli security forces with live ammunition in 2020. They reported that between November 1, 2019 and October 31, 2020, 1,048 Palestinian children were injured by Israeli security forces in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

The Israeli regime used COVID-19 pandemic to arrest and illegally detain severalPalestinian activists, including manystudentsand freedom fighters, despite concerns of increased vulnerability of prisons. It carried out demolitions of Palestinian houses and used the state authority and its occupying forces to continue stealing Palestinian land and advanced projects to build illegal settlements and outposts by displacing the rightful owners by force.

The human rights record of the far-right government of Ivn Duque is one of the worst in the region. Under the shadow of the lockdown, his government tightened its grip in its attack on social movements and, at the bare minimum, turned a blind eye to what movements have called a genocide of social leaders, human rights defenders, and ex-combatants/signatories of the 2016 peace agreements.

In 2020, according to reports from the Institute of Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ),310 social leaders and human rights defenderswere assassinated. 90 massacres were committed and 65 signatories of the peace agreements, demobilized combatants from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), were killed.

At the same time, the repression and criminalization of social movements has increased significantly. This ranges from surveillance and harassment of social leaders by government agents and members of the public force, to conspiratorial frame-ups which have put dozens of social leaders behind bars. A recent example was on December 15 and 16, when three historic peasant leaders Tefilo Acua, Adelso Gallo and Robert Daza were arrested and accused by the Attorney General of being part of an armed guerrilla group. They were released following a tireless campaign by movements to show that their work as peasant leaders and defenders of the land and human rights is not a crime.

The mass protests that took place in the Colombian capital, Bogot in early September against the police killing of Javier Ordez were also met with brutal repression by security forces. The violent repression by police resulted in the killing of 13 people (10 in Bogot, 3 in Soacha), more than 65 gravely injured by firearms, with more than 400 were injured overall, and hundreds arbitrarily detained.

In Thailand, the year began with an attack on democracy and popular will with amass shooting by a soldierthat killed 30 and injured dozens and thedissolution of a major oppositionparty by the constitutional court, at the behest of the military-supported government of Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Over the next few months suppression of democratic avenues brewed untilprotests broke out in mid-Julyin the capital, Bangkok, and elsewhere across the country. The protests included a cross section of people fromstudents groupstotrade unionsconverging on a common demand toend the militarys controlover civilian governments, an end to the nations lese-majeste laws, and an end tohounding of activistsand journalists. Ironically, the government did exactly the opposite of what the protesters have been demanding. From declaring anabortivedeclaration of emergency, slapping charges of insulting the monarchy ondozensof protesters and even pursuingcases against media outletsreporting on the protests. Nevertheless, the movement continues unabated and will continue to grow stronger next year.

In the Philippines, repression continued under president Rodrigo Duterte. Even though the year began witha trucebetween the government and the communist insurgents, it slowly deteriorated as the year rolled in. Attacks on media stood out particularly, with the conviction against veteran journalistMaria Resaand her colleague from theRappler, the closure of a national broadcasterABS-CBN, and the murder of a regional radio journalistVirgilio Maganes. Filipinos also had to deal with a particularlyrepressive governmentduring the COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed a newanti-terror law. Politicalassassinationsalso continued this year, despitecalls for protectionfrom civil society groups against proven threat to life. But efforts from activists and grassroots leaders paid way after a recent report by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court found the governmentguilty of possible crimes against humanityin its anti-drugs campaign.

The conservative Law and Justice(PiS) party led government in Poland relentlessly pursued their regressive, misogynistic policies and continued the persecution ofcommunistsin 2020. In order to reinforce theirschemingfor absolute power, the PiS regime called for the presidential elections amidst the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in May. Widespread popular outrageforcedthe government to postpone the elections and when the elections happened on July 12, PiS-backed Andrzej Duda managed to win only with 2% majority over than liberal opposition candidate.

The PiS governments decision toquitthe European treaty on violence against women and domestic violence popularly known as the Istanbul Convention drew widespread protests from womens groups, the left and the international community. In October, the Polish constitutional courtruledthat abortions in the case of foetal defects are unconstitutional. Womens groups, the Polish left and other progressive sectionsdenounced the judgementas a war on women and started massiveprotestsacross the country. Throughout the year, womens groups and progressives in Polandfoughttirelessly against the tyranny of PiS, braving police crackdowns and harassment from far-right miscreants.

2020 saw one of the largest sustained uprisings in the history of the United States. Millions took to the streetsin cities and towns across the country, both large and small, toprotest against the racist killing of George Floydon May 25 in Minneapolis and against theracist systemthat continues to perpetuate these acts of violence while ensuring impunity for the perpetrators. The central slogan of the protests #BlackLivesMatters was echoedacross the world, with protests in Australia, Brazil,Franceand the United Kingdom also demanding justice for victims of police violence and structural change to address racism.

However, this great uprising was also met with harsh repression. Images circulated across social media throughout the months of the uprising of local police officers and federal officers, sent at the request of local officials or by the federal government,using violence and forceto attack protesters. Officers used tear gas, baton attacks, and rubber bullets against the protests causing hundreds of injuries to protesters and members of the press.

In several cities such as Philadelphia, civil rights groups filed lawsuits against city administrations for disproportionate use of force and racialized and militarized policing.

The repression was not limited to violent police attacks, according to reports,over 300 demonstrators were charged with federal crimes, during the course of the uprising. Civil rights advocates have pointed out that many of these charges are either exaggerated claims by law enforcement agencies or completely trumped up. On September 18, three organizers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) in Denver, Colorado, Lillian House, Eliza Lucero and Joel Northam,were arrestedon charges ranging from felony charges of kidnapping and rioting to misdemeanors like disturbing the peace. The activists were on the forefront of the mass anti-racist movement and in Denver organized fiercely to demand justice in the case of23-year-old Elijah McClainwho was murdered by officers from the Aurora Police Department (city next to Denver) on August 24, 2019. Theywere released on bondafter spending a week in prison but the District Attorney has yet to drop the charges.

This year was also key in the struggle to free one of the key political prisoners,Julian Assange. The trial portion for Julian Assanges extradition hearings took place in the month of September, at the Central Criminal Court or the Old Bailey in London. The case which deals with the fundamental question of press freedom, began with censorship, as the judge presiding over the case, Vanessa Baraitser,excluded over 40 applicants for remote accessto the trial. Throughout the four weeks of trial, testimonies were presented from nearly three dozen expert witnesses, covering a range of aspects of the case, from Assanges mental health to the political nature of the charges he will be facing in the US to the possibility of torture and maltreatment he is likely to face if extradited. Judge Vanessa Baraitser is set to deliver the verdict on January 4, 2021. Since theconclusion of the trial, Assange remained in the Belmarsh prison as he was denied bail.

A large number of global leaders and personalities, as well associal movements, have manifested their support to Assange and rejected his persecution and extradition including former Brazilian presidentsLuiz Incio Lula da Silva,Dilma Rousseff, former Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa,Roger Waters, Jeremy Corbyn, Noam Chomsky, Argentine president Alberto Fernndez, and many others.

With contributions from Abdul Rahman, Anish R.M., Muhammad Shabeer and Zoe PC.

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Under the Cover of the Pandemic, States Cracked Down Even Harder - NewsClick