STATEMENT BY
22 APRIL TO 7 MAY 2015
BANJUL, THE GAMBIA
‘THE EBOLA VIRUS AS A HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERN IN AFRICA’
THE EBOLA VIRUS AS A HUMAN RIGHTS CONCERN IN AFRICA
The Community Law Centre is a non-profit research organization of the Law Faculty at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. The CLC works to realize the democratic values and human rights enshrined in South Africa's Constitution. The Centre also seeks to advance human rights and democracy in Africa and engages in high quality research, public interest litigation, policy development, and advocacy. This statement of the Community Law Centre (CLC) focuses on the Ebola virus as a human rights concern in Africa.
The Community Law Centre at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa expresses its concern about the recent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in some African countries and its attendant consequences. The current outbreak has been lethal and has claimed many casualties ever recorded. The EVD is highly contagious and is currently not under control. According to the World Health Organization, the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, in West Africa has continued to escalate with over 21,296 reported cases and more than 10,000 deaths but many go unrecorded. EVD is a severe and sometimes fatal illness with death rate of about 90%. Infections are thought to be doubling every few weeks. Some African countries such as Nigeria and Senegal initially threatened by EVD have been able to take drastic measures to curb its spread and even to completely eliminate it. CLC uses this medium to commend these African countries for their decisiveness and unflinching commitments to ensure safety of lives within their jurisdictions.
In the wake of the EVD that is ravaging parts of West Africa some governments have resorted to certain measures to curtail its spread within their borders. Some of these measures include using the military to enforce quarantined zones, imposing curfews and lockdowns, and screening people entering major towns and cities. These drastic measures tend to pose great threats to human rights guaranteed in the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and sometimes raise tensions within communities, and lead to mistrust of governments. For instance, in August 2014 attempts by Liberian security forces to quarantine residents of the West Point district in Monrovia descended into violence. The outbreak has also led to serious stigmatization of individuals and whole communities suspected or confirmed to be infected or to have survived Ebola. Situations as these may undermine various human rights including rights to movement and liberty, dignity, life, equality and non-discrimination, health, work, education and freedom to be free from torture, inhuman and degrading treatment all guaranteed in the African Charter and other human rights instruments.