Monthly Archives: May 2020

The Cambodian governments three-year long war on drugs campaign has fuelled a rising tide of human rights abuses, dangerously overfilled detention facilities and led to an alarming public health situation even more so as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds while failing in its stated objective of curbing drug use, a new investigative report by Amnesty International published today reveals.The new 78-page report, Substance abuses: The human cost of Cambodias anti-drug campaign, documents how the authorities prey on poor and marginalized people, arbitrarily carry out arrests, routinely subject suspects to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and dispatch those who cant buy their freedom to severely overcrowded prisons and pseudo rehabilitation centres in which detainees are denied healthcare and are subjected to severe abuse.

Cambodias war on drugs is an unmitigated disaster it rests upon systematic human rights abuses and has created a bounty of opportunities for corrupt and poorly-paid officials in the justice system.

Cambodias war on drugs is an unmitigated disaster it rests upon systematic human rights abuses and has created a bounty of opportunities for corrupt and poorly-paid officials in the justice system, while doing nothing for public health and safety, said Nicholas Bequelin, Regional Director at Amnesty International. Cambodias Prime Minister, Hun Sen, launched his anti-drugs campaign in January 2017, just weeks after a state visit by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, during which the two leaders pledged to cooperate in combatting drugs. According to government officials, the campaign aims to reduce drug use and related harms in Cambodia, including by arresting people who use drugs en masse. As recently as March 2020, Interior Minister Sar Kheng called for legal action against all drug addicts and dealers in small-scale drug use and distribution cases.Yet, like the Philippines so-called war on drugs, this campaign is rife with egregious human rights violations that are disproportionately affecting poor and marginalized people irrespective of whether or not they use drugs.Using abusive approaches to punish people who use drugs is not only wrong, it is utterly ineffective. It is high time that Cambodian authorities heed the widely available scientific evidence showing that all-punitive law enforcement campaigns simply exacerbate social harms, said Nicholas Bequelin.

In the course of its investigation Amnesty International spoke to dozens of victims of Cambodias inhumane anti-drugs campaign. They described being subjected to two parallel systems of punishment: some were arbitrarily detained without charge in drug detention centres, while others were convicted through the criminal justice system and sent to prison.

Their testimonies reveal a remarkable consistency in violations of due process leading to peoples detention, and no coherent method in determining whether people are either criminally prosecuted or sent to drug detention centres. Individual police officers who are sometimes influenced by bribes have significant discretion to determine peoples fate.

They asked me how many times I sold drugs The police officer said if I didnt confess, he would use the taser on me again.

The case of 38-year-old Sopheap shows the arbitrary nature of the campaign. She started using methamphetamine occasionally in early 2017. Six months later, in October 2017, she was arrested in a drugs raid along with her two 16- and 17-year old neighbours.

There were no more drugs left when the police came, only a bottle, a lighter and other paraphernalia lying around, she explained. They said they would send us to a rehabilitation centre but they actually sent us to the court, and then to the prison.

Many people described how they were detained as a result of police raids on poor neighbourhoods or city beautification sweeps that leave people who are poor, homeless, and struggling with drug dependence especially at risk of arrest.

Sreyneang, a 30-year-old woman from Phnom Penh, told Amnesty International how she was tortured following her arbitrary arrest during a drugs raid in Phnom Penh: They asked me how many times I sold drugs The police officer said if I didnt confess, he would use the taser on me again.

Those subjected to criminal prosecution consistently described legal processes which made a mockery of fair trial rights, including convictions based on flimsy and inadequate evidence and summary trials conducted in the absence of defence lawyers. Many accused people had a very limited understanding of their rights, putting them at even greater risk of human rights violations.

One interviewee, Vuthy, was only 14 at the time of his arrest. After being arrested in a drugs raid, he was beaten by several police officers and charged with drug trafficking. He described his investigation and trial: I didnt understand the process and what the different court visits meant. The first time I understood what was happening was when they told me my prison sentence. Nobody ever asked me if I had a lawyer or gave me one.

The campaign, which continues to this day, was initially presented as a six-month operation starting in January 2017. It is the leading cause in Cambodias current crisis of severe overcrowding in prisons and other detention facilities.

This overcrowding crisis is causing serious violations of the right to health of people deprived of their liberty. It often amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under international human rights law.

By March 2020, the nationwide prison population had skyrocketed by 78% to over 38,990 people since the campaigns start. Cambodias largest prison facility, Phnom Penhs CC1, exceeded 9,500 prisoners nearly five times its estimated capacity of 2,050.

This situation should have led the authorities to urgently ease extreme overcrowding in the countrys detention centres amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including by releasing all those held without an adequate legal basis such as people held in drug detention centres and by pursuing parole, early or conditional release, and other alternative non-custodial measures for prisoners, especially those most at risk of COVID-19.

Maly described how she and her one-year-old daughter were held in Phnom Penhs CC2 prison: It was so hard to raise my daughter inside. She wanted to move around, she wanted more space, she wanted to see the outside. She wanted freedom She often got fever and flu. Because we had no space, my child normally slept on top of my body.

While the total population in Cambodias drug detention centres is not publicized, all testimonies obtained by Amnesty International suggest that overcrowding inside these centres is just as severe as inside prisons.

All detention facilities are at high risk of major outbreaks of COVID-19, and many detainees have pre-existing conditions such as HIV and tuberculosis that put them at increased risk. Long, a former CC1 inmate, told Amnesty International: If one person got a respiratory infection, within a few days everyone in the cell got it. It was a breeding ground for illness.

Exclusive video footage from inside a Cambodian prison, published by Amnesty International last month, showed extreme overcrowding and inhumane conditions of detention. In response, a spokesman for the prisons department conceded that every day is like a ticking time bomb for a COVID-19 outbreak in detention facilities.

Yet, to date, the Cambodian authorities have failed to take any action to reduce the prison population, even as regional neighbours including Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia have released tens of thousands of people in detention who are at risk, including people held on drug-related charges.

Although drug detention centres claim to provide treatment for people with drug dependence, in practice they operate as sites of abuse. Every individual interviewed by Amnesty International provided detailed accounts of physical abuse amounting to torture or other ill-treatment committed by centre staff or so-called room leaders inmates entrusted by staff to enforce discipline.

As soon as the guard left, the room leader started to beat me. I was knocked unconscious so I cant remember what happened after that.

Thyda, who was held in the Orkas Khnom drug detention centre in Phnom Penh during 2019, told Amnesty International: This [violence] happened to everyone and it was normal. Violence like this was part of the daily routine; part of their programme.

Another, Sarath, described his first day in a drug detention centre, where he was sent at the age of 17: As soon as the guard left, the room leader started to beat me. I was knocked unconscious so I cant remember what happened after that.

Drug detention centres have also been dogged by reports of sexual violence and deaths in custody. Amnesty Internationals investigation uncovered multiple new allegations of such deaths. Phanith, a former room leader, told Amnesty International how he witnessed an inmate chained by the hands and the feet so that he could not move around. And the building leader beat him like that until he died.

Time to end punitive approaches to people who use drugs

The Cambodian authorities hard-line approach to people who use drugs has failed in its primary aim of reducing drug use and related harms, and instead created a catastrophic public health and human rights crisis for the countrys poorest and most at-risk populations.

Yet there are clear, evidence-based alternatives. International drug policy has shifted in recent years and led to sweeping reforms in favour of evidence-based alternatives that better protect public health and human rights, including the decriminalization of use and possession of drugs for personal use. The Cambodian Ministry of Health has recently taken some tentative steps in the right direction by increasing the availability of evidence-based treatment in community settings.

However, it is essential that all compulsory drug detention centres be shut down promptly and permanently. People detained there must be released immediately with sufficient provisions of health and social services made available to them.

In Cambodia, and across the world, the so-called war on drugs has failed. But there are clear alternatives based on scientific evidence that better protect human rights.

Moreover, the Cambodian authorities should move without delay towards implementing the measures they committed to at the UN Human Rights Council in 2019, in order to put in place a new drug policy that shifts away from prohibition and fully protects the rights of people who use drugs and other affected communities.

In Cambodia, and across the world, the so-called war on drugs has failed. But there are clear alternatives based on scientific evidence that better protect human rights. The Cambodian authorities must consign the abusive policies of arbitrary detention and criminalization to history and embrace a compassionate and effective new era of drug policy, said Nicholas Bequelin.

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Rife with torture and corruption, Cambodia must overhaul its "war on drugs" - Amnesty International

We are at war. So declared Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, three months into the fight against the novel coronavirus. If nothing else, its a sentiment President Donald Trump and the head of the WHO wholeheartedly agree on. And so do many other world leaders.

Especially when it comes to the mobilization of resources, war may be an appropriate analogy for fighting a pandemic such as COVID-19. But its ultimate defeat will be nothing like a military victory and will require the kind of extensive global cooperation that is more associated with keeping peace than fighting wars.

From Lyndon Johnsons War on Poverty and Richard Nixons War on Cancer to Ronald Reagans War on Drugs and George W. Bushs War on Terror, theres a long history of American presidents resorting to the language of war to mobilize action against major challenges and threats.

Trump was late to use the language of war, but once the extent of COVID-19s destruction became too hard to ignore, he fully embraced it. The world is at war with a hidden enemy, Trump tweeted in mid-March. WE WILL WIN, he reassured Americans. He depicted the foreign virus as an Invisible Enemy, and saw America as being on a wartime footing and himself as the wartime president. He called Americans warriors and urged them to defend against an attack that was worse than Pearl Harbor worse than the World Trade Center attack on 9/11.

Among other world leaders whove cast the fight against the virus as a war, President Xi Jinping called on the Chinese people to mobilize for a peoples war. Beijings propaganda machine touted Xi as the Peoples Leader commanding the decisive battle. And those citizens who had fallen to the disease were described as the wars martyrs.

In Europe, too, leaders have resorted to martial language. President Emmanuel Macron declared France was at war against an enemy that is invisible, elusive. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, himself temporarily felled by the disease, has invoked Winston Churchill and the spirit of the Blitz, urging Britons to directly enlist in the fight while reassuring them they would come through it stronger than ever.

The language of war can be used to bring a nation together in common cause, to mobilize resources for the fight, to underscore the need for sacrifice and to force early and effective action. When it comes to dealing with a pandemic, all these efforts are necessary.

But they are not enough. A virus, though deadly, is not like an enemy in war. While it attacks through physical interaction, the attacker is as likely to be a spouse, a child or a parent, as someone unknown to us. It can be countered through physical separation, but it will only be defeated through outside medical intervention.

Finding a treatment or vaccine is nothing like fighting a war. It requires widespread, global cooperation among scientists to research, discover and test possible drugs and then to manufacture, distribute and deliver them all across the globe. And victory comes not from a single battle or even from the viruss defeat in one nation or region. It only comes from its defeat everywhere. When it comes to a pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Many understand this need for cooperation. Last week, leaders from around the world connected virtually to pledge their support and more than $8 billion to fund vaccine development and research on diagnosing and treating the disease. The United States was notably absent from the effort, while China, which was represented by its ambassador to the European Union, pledged no funding.

Asked why President Trump did not join his world colleagues and pledge U.S. support for this global effort, a senior State Department official said Washington was doing its part. The United States is riding to the sounds of the gun, boldly heading into the fight to stop this pandemic, Jim Richardson, director of foreign assistance, said in a news briefing. Retreat is simply not an option.

Here lies the deeper danger of seeing the fight against this pandemic as a war. Wars rarely end by vanquishing the enemy. Most often, they end in stalemate, because of exhaustion, or through negotiation. But viruses dont negotiate, and in this pandemic, a stalemate means thousands will continue to die, every single day.

We are in this together, former President George W. Bush said so eloquently a few days back. We are not partisan combatants. We are human beings, equally vulnerable and equally wonderful in the sight of God. We rise or fall together. And we are determined to rise.

Ivo Daalder is president of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a former U.S. ambassador to NATO. He wrote this column for the Chicago Tribune.

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Ivo Daalder: No, were not at war. The dangers of how we talk about the COVID-19 pandemic - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press

By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.

ONE FEATHER STAFF

In an effort to combat the illicit drug issue on the tribal lands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), Vice Chief Alan B. Ensley has submitted legislation that would harshen the penalties of those convicted of tribal drug offenses. During a specially-called session of Tribal Council on Tuesday, May 12, Ordinance No. 180 (2020) and Ordinance No. 181 (2020) were both deemed read and tabled.

Vice Chief Ensley told the One Feather, Ive talked to many of our tribal members. They say we need action to fight the war on drugs that we are facing here on our Boundary, and I say we need action now. Our Boundary has been dealing with the drug epidemic for some time. In the past month, the number of overdoses has increased.

He added, We have laws on the books now, but it seems those laws arent strong enough. I have introduced amendments to strengthen the laws in an effort to protect our community and our tribal residents. Mandatory minimum sentences for dealers and those convicted of possession are proposed in the amendments. We, the leaders of the Tribe, have to make every effort to fight the drug epidemic and if that means tougher laws that is a step we need to take.

Michael McConnell, EBCI interim attorney general, said during Tuesdays session, These are attempts to take a tougher stance on some aspects of the drug problem that has very much increased lately.

He said there should be substantial discussion on the ordinances prior to passage including receiving input from the Cherokee Tribal Court as to how these changes would roll out.

Tabled Ord. No. 180 states in part, the number of people abusing and trafficking in controlled substances on tribal trust land has increased dramatically, and nearly every Cherokee family and every tribal community has been adversely affected by the increase in drug abuse and trafficking whether its been through the overdose or death of a loved one, the incarceration of a relative or community member, or the increase in thefts from area homes and businesses

The ordinance establishes a new chapter (Chapter 2A) in the Cherokee Code entitled Real Property Forfeitures. Sec. 2A-1(a) states, Real property is subject to civil forfeiture to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians when the real property is used to facilitate an offense stated in subsection (b). Facilitation shall mean that the property was used to commit, or subsequently conceal, illicit activity.

Sec. 2A-1(b) outlines the offenses that would warrant a forfeiture. All civil forfeitures and interests in real property shall proceed as Tribal Council proceedings upon a Cherokee Code 14-95.6 conviction or any state or federal conviction where such offenses would constitute a 14-95.6 offense under the Cherokee Code. For purposes of this Chapter, real property shall mean the possessory holding and all improvements attached to the possessory interest.

According to the Cherokee Code, a 14-95.6 offense is Manufacture, Sell or Deliver, or Possession with Intent to Manufacture, Sell or Deliver, of a Controlled Substance.

Tabled Ord. No. 181 starts with amending punishment levels in Sec. 14-95.21. Imprisonment times would change for the various classes of penalties including: Class A would raise from one year to 18 months, Class B would raise from six months to one year, Class C would raise from 30 days to six months, and Class D remains the same.

This ordinance also proposes changes to Cherokee Code Sec. 14-10 as follows:

* Sec. 14-10.9 Criminal mischief to property: increases maximum term of imprisonment from six months to one year

* Sec. 14-10.15 First degree trespass: increases maximum fine from $5,000 to $15,000 and increases maximum term of imprisonment from one year to three years

* Sec. 14-10.16 Second degree trespass: increases maximum fine from $1,000 to $5,000 and increases maximum term of imprisonment from 30 days to one year

* Sec. 14-10.41 changed to Breaking or Entering: increases the range of fine from $250 $5,000 to $500 $15,000 and increases maximum term of imprisonment from one year to three years

* Sec. 14-10.60 Larceny: increases maximum term of imprisonment from six months to one year

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Vice Chief submits legislation to harshen penalties for tribal drug offenses - The Cherokee One Feather - Cherokee One Feather

El Mencho, Rubn Oseguera Cervantes, is the leader of Mexico's Crtel Jalisco Nueva Generacin and the most wanted man in the Western Hemisphere. Louisville Courier Journal

A powerfulMexican cartel member with ties to one of America's most wanted narcotics bosses is now in U.S. custody, a law enforcement source tells The Courier Journal.

Gerardo Gonzlez Valencia, a member of the wealthy Mexican cartel Los Cuinis, is in the process of being extraditedfrom South America to America toface federal drug trafficking charges.

In April 2016, afederal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Gonzlez Valencia known as "Lalo" or "Flaco,"Spanish for skinnyand he soon wascapturedin Uruguay.

He is charged with conspiracy to distribute at least 5 kilogramsof cocaineand 500 grams of methamphetamine for importation intotheUnited States, according to the indictment.

Gonzlez Valencia is the brother-in-law to a Mexican billionaire andtop U.S. target, Rubn Oseguera Cervantes. Cervantes, known as "El Mencho,"is the leader of the global drug empire Crtel Jalisco Nueva Generacin, based in Guadalajara.

More: Who is El Mencho? He's the most powerful drug kingpin you've never heard of

The U.S. is offering a $10 million reward to capture El Mencho, whose cartel is blamed with flooding the U.S. with fentanyl, methamphetamine and other deadly drugs.

Los Cuinis cartel member Gerardo Gonzlez Valencia, a brother-in-law to one of America's top targets, the billionaire drug kingpin known as "El Mencho." Gonzlez Valencia was brought from Uruguay to the U.S. this week to face federal methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking charges in D.C.(Photo: Special to the Courier Journal)

Los Cuinis is an affiliate of CJNG and is led by several brothers of El Mencho's wife, Rosalinda. Together, the two powerhouseshave teamedto launder money and traffic drugs.

The U.S. went public with its plan of attack against Los Cuinis and CJNG during a national news conference in October 2018. Then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced charges against Gerardo Gonzalez Valencia, then 41, along with several others and emphasized the hunt for El Mencho, doubling hisprevious $5 million bounty.

Sessions announced the "kingpin" designation of El Mencho and Gerardo's older brother, Los Cuinis' leader, Abigael Gonzlez Valencia, then 45.

Mexican officials arrested Abigael, known as "Boss," in 2015 and he has fought extradition to the U.S. Another brother, Jose, was arrested in Brazil in 2017.

El Mencho remains a fugitive. U.S. drug agents believe he remains in hiding in Mexico, protected by an army of heavily armed mercenaries.

Why this cartel matters to Americans: A ruthless Mexican drug lords empire is devastating families with its grip on small-town USA

Cartel boss' daughter arrested in U.S.: Mexican drug cartel leader's fugitive daughter arrested in US while trying to see brother

Cartel boss' son extradited to U.S.: El Menchito, the son of feared Mexican drug lord El Mencho, faces US judge

The Courier Journal profiled El Menchoand CJNG in a special report last year that highlighted how the fast-growing cartel made its way into small-town America, including cities across Kentucky.

The investigation found the cartel operating in at least 35 states and the territory of Puerto Rico.

El Mencho's son, Rubn Oseguera Gonzlez known as "El Menchito" or Lil' Mencho was extradited to the U.S. earlier this year and is awaiting trial in D.C. on drug charges.

In another victory for the U.S. in the war on CJNG, cartel member Jess Contreras Arceo was extradited from Mexicoin December. Known as "Canasto," heis charged with drug trafficking and money laundering in Virginia.

Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced indictments against top U.S. targets in Mexico -- the CJNG cartel and its affiliate Los Cuinis in October, 2018. This week, another key cartel member has been extradited to the U.S.(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

U.S. agents also were investigating El Mencho's daughter, Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzlez. They didn't have to extradite her. She came from her home in Mexico to the U.S. to see her brother in court in February and was arrested on her own charges.

Another U.S. attack on Mexican cartel: US makes nationwide arrests, including 3 in Louisville, of Mexican drug cartel members

Jessica, known as "La Negra," and her brother El Menchitowere born in California, making them dual citizens of the U.S. and Mexico.

That allowed prosecutors to take an unusual approach to arrest her, charging her with associating with businesses linked to her father's criminal organization, CJNG or Los Cuinis. The U.S. Treasury Department had blacklisted the businesses, making it illegal for an American to patronize or associate with them.

Reporter Beth Warren: bwarren@courier-journal.com; 502-582-7164; Twitter @BethWarrenCJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/bethw.

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Key Mexican cartel member with ties to a billionaire fugitive extradited to US - Courier Journal

It may seem odd to want regulations on controlled drugs, such as morphine, to be loosened in the UK, but laws designed to protect people are now causing harm to those with COVID-19.

Opiates, which include morphine, are proven to be effective at relieving pain and relaxing patients who have acute shortness of breath. Whether a patient is in pain or experiencing severe breathing problems, it is critical that doctors intervene quickly. Any delay increases the risk of cardiac arrest, which can be fatal.

Opiates are used to treat patients with COVID-19 in hospices and care homes, as well as in hospital wards. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases has placed significant pressure on the supply and dispensing of these important medicines.

Another example of how limiting the existing rules can be is the strict way that surplus and unused opiates prescribed to a named patient have to be destroyed. The Department of Health introduced new guidance at the end of April for care homes and hospices on how to reuse surplus medication, but this doesnt cover most patients who are in their own homes. Before the pandemic, this seemed wasteful, but it didnt create much of a problem. Now it is more serious.

Having to destroy perfectly good medicine when there is a temporary shortage is nonsensical, and it means some patients suffer longer than they need to.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is responsible for the legislation on controlled drugs and has been aware of problems for some time. On April 1 she asked her scientific advisers for their view on her plans to loosen regulation. They supported the changes that Patel had proposed, which prompted the home secretary to amend the law.

One of these amendments would allow pharmacists to change a prescription for a controlled drug if it would benefit the patient. But there was a caveat: I must be clear that these measures will not come into use with immediate effect. The government, in close liaison with the NHS service and devolved administrations, will carefully consider when to switch on these measures.

Along with fifty clinicians, academics, public health experts and others, we sent an open letter to Patel calling on her to switch on these measures, urgently.

We are not alone in our concern. The Royal College of General Practitioners has also pleaded with the home secretary to relax these regulations to alleviate patients suffering.

We have still not had a response from Patel or the Home Office. We can only speculate why we are in the bizarre position of having the legislation in place to ease the suffering of some patients with COVID-19 but not the political will to implement this change in the law.

It is understandable that ministers might be concerned about the consequences of easing restrictions on these powerful drugs. Given the significant mortality in North America in part due to a loosening of controls on these types of medicines, those fears are logical. However, if managed clinically, in a responsible way, the risk of problems such as dependence can be minimised.

It is possible that Patel is wary of introducing changes that might be used to prematurely end patients lives (drugs such as morphine are believed by some people to have been used in this way, even though this is illegal in the UK). Or it could be due to concern that loosening regulations will lead to misuse of opiates, with some finding their way onto the black market. Although this is possible, diversion of opiates to the black market has always been a risk. Irrespective of how tightly there use is controlled there is little evidence for this happening. Equally, this lack of action could be ideologically driven.

The Conservative party supports the war on drugs so the government may feel any action that loosens controls, irrespective of patient need and benefit, risks sending a message of going soft on drugs.

The regulations for all medicines, including more potent varieties, such as morphine, are based on a risk-benefit calculation. Essentially, do the regulations minimise the risks while ensuring the potential for human benefit is maximised?

Many aspects of the COVID-19 crisis have been beyond our control, but this issue is firmly within our ability to intervene and solve a problem. As clinical scientists, we are limited to providing advice. We are reminded that it is politicians who decide. But for every day that the decision to switch on these regulations is delayed, suffering continues, and that is both cruel and unnecessary.

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Coronavirus: why the law on morphine should be loosened - The Conversation UK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Shin Inouye,[emailprotected], 202.869.0398

WASHINGTON Allyn Brooks-LaSure, executive vice president for communications of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement on the shooting of Breonna Taylor:

We mourn the appalling loss of Breonna Taylor and are incensed at the circumstances of her killing at the hands of law enforcement. This tragedy occurred when the Louisville Police Department SWAT team forced their way into her apartment, allegedly unannounced, and shot her eight times. Sadly, she is not the first person to lose their life to or be the victim of a high risk, militarized use of a no-knock search warrant to seize drugs none of which were found in the apartment.

The so-called war on drugs is a failure it disproportionately incarcerates people of color and leads to too many casualties. Those responsible for Taylors death must be held accountable. We join the calls from local advocates and Taylors family for an independent investigation into her killing. As an EMT, Taylor worked to save lives those in power must act to honor hers.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals.For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visitwww.civilrights.org.

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The Leadership Conference Statement on the Shooting of Breonna Taylor - Civilrights.org

The president of the Philippines has sanctioned the use of lethal force to keep his country of 100 million people in lockdown.

Sadly, it is not a surprising approach from Rodrigo Duterte who has condoned the killing of thousands of people in his war on drugs.

He appears to have adopted the same policy for his countrys fight against Covid-19.

Anyone caught violating quarantine - outside when they shouldnt be or in a community which isnt their own - could face being shot by the police or the soldiers who are now patrolling the streets.

On April 21, Winston Ragos became a victim of the extreme regulations.

He was visiting his relatives and when he left he came out on to a street next to a quarantine checkpoint.

For reasons that remain unclear, soldiers at the checkpoint thought he was armed.

The 33-year-old was an ex-army officer himself and suffered from PTSD.

At gunpoint he became flustered and the soldiers opened fire.

He was killed by two gunshots.

Officers have also been ordered to arrest and jail anyone they deem to be breaching the lockdown rules.

So far, an estimated 30,000 people have been arrested.

Among them was a team of volunteers from the campaign group Gabriela.

They had a permit to distribute food parcels, but a group of police officers still took issue with what they were doing and they were handcuffed and detained overnight.

They were released pending further investigation and have a hearing set for later this month.

Dimples Paz who was one of volunteers arrested, fears next time the consequences could be worse.

Human rights organisations have condemned such abuse of power in the throes of pandemic.

Many of those arrested are being put into already overcrowded jails where the virus is spreading unchecked and claiming dozens of lives - deaths which are going unreported.

In the slums of Manila the housing it too cramped and people are too poor for street life to stop.

Thankfully, the virus hasnt taken hold in these communities; families living there already live in fear of being shot in the president's war on drugs, and now for breaching the lockdown.

The restrictions have made it hard to get food and many families are now relying on rations.

Starvation is a threat - but getting the virus is viewed as a death sentence.

The Philippines General Hospital were the first to receive coronavirus cases.

The Covid-19 ward is still full, but no longer overwhelmed.

A high death rate due to initial equipment and staff shortages has been hard to deal with.

Nurse Kirsten Ty told ITV News she and her team now start every day with a prayer.

The hospital has lost several staff to the virus and nurse Ty admits to being afraid.

Some people celebrate us for being heroes but at the back of our minds we are afraid for ourselves and our families because we are fighting a war against something thats not visible and theres no definite cure, its an uncertain feeling because you want to help, you feel heroic, but at the same time youre scared, nurse Ty told ITV News.

The Philippines is a densely populated and developing nation where there are millions not only vulnerable to the virus, but facing an extreme, and at times, lethal lockdown.

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Human rights abuses on the rise in the Philippines amid coronavirus lockdown - ITV News