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It warns the government is ‘under a duty to take appropriate steps to protect life where there is a known risk to life (or the risk at least ought to be known).
‘In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic it is arguable that this duty included prioritising the provision of available PPE to healthcare staff, other frontline workers, and persons most vulnerable to the virus such as those in care homes, older people, or those with specified underlying health conditions.
‘It is also arguable that when it became clear that Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities were suffering disproportionately from the effects of COVID-19, the right to life (Article 2, ECHR) read together with the right to non-discrimination in the enjoyment of the substantive ECHR rights (Article 14, ECHR) should have required the prioritisation of the allocation of PPE to (for instance) BAME doctors and nurses. We have received evidence that in some cases the reverse has in fact been the case.’
The 96-page report calls on the government to ‘urgently’ address a number of issues to ensure the steps it has taken are necessary and proportionate, and to ensure it is open and transparent about the evidence it has considered and how it had made its decisions.
It highlights that a public inquiry is ‘very likely’ and that it must consider deaths of healthcare and care workers, transport workers, police and security guards due to lack of PPE (personal protective equipment), deaths in care homes due to early release from hospital and deaths in detention settings.
The report also raises concerns about privacy, data protection and discrimination in the contact tracing app, and recommends tailored legislation be introduced to protect people’s data.
On access to justice, it highlights the right to a fair trial and right to liberty, and urges the government to ensure those who are digitally excluded or vulnerable in other ways are not disadvantages. The rights of children with special educational needs and disabilities may also have been affected by school closures as well as regarding their return to school.
‘Blanket bans’ on visitors to prisons, hospitals and care homes may breach the right to family life, the report warns. It calls for visits to be resumed as soon as it is safe to do so.
Harriet Harman, chair of the committee, said: ‘The scale of this crisis is unlike anything many of us will see again in our lifetime.
‘Confusion over what is law and what is merely guidance has left citizens open to disproportionate and unequal levels of punishment for breaking the rules, and unfortunately, it seems that once again, this is overtly affecting BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) individuals. The government must learn from these mistakes to ensure that any additional lockdowns do not unfairly impact specific groups.
‘Parliament and the public must be kept appropriately and promptly informed about changes in policy, especially when the human rights of so many are affected in such a wide variety of ways. This is an unprecedented and uncertain time for everyone, and the government must act in a justifiable, fair and proportionate way.’
View the report at: bit.ly/3mFHMUc.
