MELBOURNE, Australia – The sudden lockdown of nine public residential towers in Melbourne this summer, leaving 3,000 people without adequate food, medicine and access to fresh air during the city’s second wave of coronavirus, was in violation of human rights law.
The report published on Thursday by the Ombudsman in the state of Victoria, whose capital is Melbourne, said that residents were placed under house arrest for 14 days without warning in July. The report has deprived them of essential support and access to activities such as exercise.
The lockdown was “incompatible with the human rights of residents, including their right to humane treatment in the event of imprisonment,” wrote Deborah Glass, the Victorian ombudswoman. The report recommended that the state government publicly apologize to residents of the tower and improve relationships and procedures in similarly high-risk shelters in the city so they are better prepared for future outbreaks.
Although Australia has received worldwide praise for successfully slowing the spread of the coronavirus in the country, the report was a devastating rebuke for the decision by state officials to take tough action against public housing residents who felt trapped, traumatized and suspected of discrimination. Some described it as a “nightmare”.
“We grew up here; We were born here, ”one resident, whose real name was not identified in the report, told investigators. “It felt like, ‘Aren’t we in a safe place or not?'” He added. “We felt unworthy.”
The report also recalled that such measures have rarely been applied fairly and come at high costs for those who are economically disadvantaged. Many of the residents of the towers are minority or immigrant. Some residents found police officers swimming around the towers, making it difficult to exit.
Regarding the residents of the towers, the report said: “Some had experienced civil wars and dictatorships before settling in Australia, others even survived torture by their former state. The overwhelming police presence was particularly traumatic for them. “
When a second wave threatened to weigh on Australia’s progress in fighting the pandemic, Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews imposed one of the strictest and longest lockdowns in the world. It lasted 111 days, frustrating already exhausted and winter-weary Melburnians, and earning him both vitriol and public support.
Mr Andrews said the government had no choice and that its actions were based on the best public health advice.
“There is no set of rules for this, nobody in Victoria has done this before,” he said at a press conference in Melbourne on Thursday. “We took the steps that the experts believed were necessary to save lives.”
Updated
Apr. 16, 2020, 7:32 am ET
Investigators found that while the state’s acting health officer had signed the lockdown approval order, she was unaware of the government’s plans to put it into effect so suddenly. According to the report, she only had 15 minutes to review the terms of several documents and their human rights implications before the details of the lockdown were released.
“During a crisis we could be tempted to view human rights as expendable in order to save human lives,” the report warned. “This thinking can lead to dangerous territory.”
32-year-old Ebyon Hassan, who lives in one of the towers in the suburbs of North Melbourne and lost her father to the coronavirus in late July, said of the report, “It’s no surprise that human rights have been violated.”
She and other residents said they were extremely disappointed with the lack of government services after the lockdown.
“Everyone is just trying to heal and recover,” she added. “An apology is the least you can do.”
Australian officials have hoped their handling of the virus would enable a “Covid-normal” Christmas celebration. The state of Victoria, which effectively cleared the coronavirus for the second time in late November, has now passed 48 days with no new, locally transmitted cases.
But on Wednesday and Thursday, as a sign of the persistence of the virus, a cluster of 17 new cases emerged on the northern beaches of Sydney, Australia’s largest city, ending the city’s two-week streak with no new locally-transmitted infections and the closure of some Force nursing homes.
Despite the results of the report, the Victorian state government claimed that its actions had “significantly” contributed to slowing the spread of the disease.
The authorities “acted lawfully and within the applicable legal framework at all times,” said Richard Wynne, the Minister for Planning and Housing, in a statement released Thursday.
“We’re not apologizing for saving lives,” he added.
