Governments across the world must take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations by reducing overcrowding and ensuring that inmates have access to medical facilities, the leaders of four United Nations organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO)'s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a joint statement on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2020) Governments across the world must take measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among prison populations by reducing overcrowding and ensuring that inmates have access to medical facilities, the leaders of four United Nations organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO)'s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
"We, the leaders of global health, human rights and development institutions, come together to urgently draw the attention of political leaders to the heightened vulnerability of prisoners and other people deprived of liberty to the COVID-19 pandemic, and urge them to take all appropriate public health measures in respect of this vulnerable population that is part of our communities," the statement, which was also signed by the leaders of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Office of the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights, read.
The public health measures proposed by the UN organizations call for the reduction of overcrowding in prisons by limiting custodial sentences and pretrial detention, ensuring prisoners' access to high-quality medical care, the upholding of human rights legislation and adherence to United Nations rules and guidance, according to the statement.
All the aforementioned UN organizations are ready to provide immediate support for the implementation of all the proposed measures, the statement said.
The United States, the current world leader in COVID-19 cases and deaths, is currently fighting a severe outbreak of the disease in the country's jails and penitentiaries. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2,818 inmates and 262 members of staff have tested positive for the coronavirus disease, resulting in the deaths of 50 prisoners.
Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, have called for the humanitarian release of the country's citizens who are currently incarcerated in the United States amid the ongoing epidemiological crisis.
