{"id":19807,"date":"2020-03-24T14:44:20","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T11:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/?p=19807"},"modified":"2020-03-24T15:02:16","modified_gmt":"2020-03-24T12:02:16","slug":"states-should-take-action-against-covid-19-related-expressions-of-xenophobia-says-un-expert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/news\/states-should-take-action-against-covid-19-related-expressions-of-xenophobia-says-un-expert\/","title":{"rendered":"States should take action against COVID-19-related expressions of xenophobia, says UN expert"},"content":{"rendered":"

GENEVA (23 March 2020) \u2013\u00a0Governments must ensure that their response to the COVID-19 pandemic does not contribute to xenophobia and racial discrimination, and must eradicate xenophobia\u00a0 throughout all State policy and messaging, said E. Tendayi Achiume<\/a>, UN Special Rapporteur on racism, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCrises like the coronavirus pandemic remind us that we are all connected and that our well-being is interdependent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dismaying to witness State officials\u2014including the President of the United States\u2014adopting alternative names for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Instead of using the internationally recognized name of the virus, these officials have adopted names with geographic references, typically referring to its emergence in China.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sort of calculated use of a geographic-based name for this virus is rooted in and fosters racism and xenophobia. In this case, it serves to isolate and stigmatize individuals who are or are perceived to be of Chinese or other East Asian descent.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch irresponsible, discriminatory State rhetoric is no minor issue. As noted by the World Health Organization in 2015<\/a>: \u2018disease names really do matter to the people who are directly affected … certain disease names provoke a backlash against members of particular religious or ethnic communities … This can have serious consequences for peoples\u2019 lives and livelihoods\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese consequences have already become a reality. Over the past two months, people who are perceived or known to be of Chinese or other East Asian descent have been subject to racist and xenophobic attacks related to the virus. These attacks have ranged from hateful slurs to denial of services to brutal acts of violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cCOVID-19-related expressions of racism and xenophobia online have included harassment, hate speech, proliferation of discriminatory stereotypes, and conspiracy theories. Not surprisingly, leaders who are attempting to attribute COVID-19 to certain national or ethnic groups are the very same nationalist populist leaders who have made racist and xenophobic rhetoric central to their political platforms.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical responses to the COVID-19 outbreak that stigmatize, exclude, and make certain populations more vulnerable to violence are inexcusable, unconscionable, and inconsistent with States\u2019 international human rights law obligations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, political rhetoric and policy that stokes fear and diminish the equality of all people is counterproductive. To treat and combat the spread of COVID-19 effectively, individuals must have access to accurate health advice and sufficient healthcare without fear of discrimination.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, States should reaffirm our joint obligations to achieve equality for all and to acknowledge that our work remains unfinished. As States across the world engage in their coordinated efforts to end this pandemic, I call on all actors to ensure that their work contributes to a holistic concept of health and well-being, including freedom from racism and xenophobia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Ms E. Tendayi Achiume<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(Zambia) was appointed by the Human Rights Council as\u00a0<\/em>Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance<\/a><\/em>\u00a0in September 2017. Ms. Achiume is Assistant Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. She is also a research associate of the African Center for Migration and Society at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the\u00a0<\/em>Special Procedures<\/a><\/em> of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council\u2019s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GENEVA (23 March 2020) \u2013\u00a0Governments must ensure that their response to the COVID-19 pandemic does not contribute to xenophobia and racial discrimination, and must eradicate xenophobia\u00a0 throughout all State policy and messaging, said E. Tendayi Achiume, UN Special Rapporteur on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,2],"tags":[183],"strategy_cases":[],"campaign":[],"archive":[],"filter-content":[],"regions":[],"class_list":["post-19807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-news","tag-xenophobia"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism.jpg",1200,670,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-125x125.jpg",125,125,true],"medium":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-768x429.jpg",640,358,true],"large":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-650x363.jpg",640,357,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism.jpg",1200,670,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism.jpg",1200,670,false],"pub-thumb":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-220x123.jpg",220,123,true],"post-thumb":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-170x170.jpg",170,170,true],"wcicon":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-48x48.jpg",48,48,true],"wcsquare":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"wcsmall":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-250x140.jpg",250,140,true],"wcstandard":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-550x307.jpg",550,307,true],"wcbig":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-800x447.jpg",800,447,true],"wcfixedheightsmall":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-322x180.jpg",322,180,true],"wcfixedheightmedium":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-537x300.jpg",537,300,true],"wcfixedheight":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-896x500.jpg",896,500,true],"wccarouselsmall":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-210x150.jpg",210,150,true],"wccarousel":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-400x285.jpg",400,285,true],"wcslider":["https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/fightracism-1100x500.jpg",1100,500,true]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"

GENEVA (23 March 2020) \u2013\u00a0Governments must ensure that their response to the COVID-19 pandemic does not contribute to xenophobia and racial discrimination, and must eradicate xenophobia\u00a0 throughout all State policy and messaging, said E. Tendayi Achiume, UN Special Rapporteur on racism, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. \u201cCrises like the coronavirus pandemic remind us that we are all connected and that our well-being is interdependent. \u201cIt\u2019s dismaying to witness State officials\u2014including the President of the United States\u2014adopting alternative names for the COVID-19 coronavirus. Instead of using the internationally recognized name of the virus,…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"Breaking news<\/a>, News<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"admin3","url":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/author\/admin3\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19807"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19807\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19812,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19807\/revisions\/19812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"strategy_cases","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/strategy_cases?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"campaign","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campaign?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"filter-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter-content?post=19807"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=19807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}