OHCHR press conference 9 December 2020

Thank you very much, everyone.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, everyone.

Attending the the press briefing.

No introduction is needed to the star of the show, Michelle Bachelet, the **** Commissioner for Human Rights, who will start with a a statement and then we'll move on to questions and answers after that.

Is that OK?

[Other language spoken]

Well, 2020 is a year none of us will ever forget.

A terrible, devastating year that has scarred so many of us in so many ways.

At least 767,000,000 people infected and 1.6 million deaths in a pandemic that is far from over.

A devastating impact on countries economies and on employment, income, education, health and food supply for hundreds of millions of people.

A massive set back to development, to efforts to alleviate poverty and to raise the status of women and girls.

2020 has taken its toll not only across all regions and virtually all countries, but also on the full range of our human rights, be they economic, social, cultural, civil or political.

COVID-19 has zeroed in on the fissures and fragilities in our societies, exposing all our failures to invest in building fair and equitable societies.

It has shown the weakness of systems that have failed to place a central focus on upholding human rights.

Recent week have seen extraordinary progress in vaccine development.

This is testimony to the ingenuity and determination of humans in a time of crisis.

But vaccines alone cannot resolve the pandemic or heal the damage it has caused.

States need only not only to distribute these vaccines equitably all over the world, they need to rebuild economies, repair the damage done by the pandemic, and address the gaps that it has exposed.

So we face three very different, I would say, possible futures.

We can emerge from this crisis in an even worse state than when it began and be even less well prepared for the next shock in our societies.

Or the second possibility is that we can struggle mightily, mightily to get back to normal, but normally was is what brought us to where we are today.

Or the third possibility, we can recover better.

The medical vaccines that are being developed will hopefully eventually deliver us from COVID-19, albeit not for many months yet.

But they will not prevent or cure the socio economic ravages that have resulted from the pandemic and aided it's spread.

But there is a vaccine to hunger, poverty, inequality and possibly if it's taken seriously, to climate change as well as to many of the other ills that face humanity.

It is a vaccine we develop in the wake of previous massive global shocks including pandemics, financial crisis and two world wars.

The name of that vaccine is human rights.

It's core ingredient are embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose 7072 anniversary will celebrate tomorrow, Human Rights Day.

The Universal Declaration is made actionably through the obligations that almost all states have undertaken by ratifying one or both of the International Covenants spanning all 5 areas of human rights.

The Universal Declaration also gave birth to other important international treaties to better protect the rights of specific groups as such as children, women, people with disabilities and migrant workers and once aiming to tackle forms of discrimination which led to the greater inequalities, poverty and lack of development that have fed and fertilised the socio economic devastation caused by COVID-19.

COVID-19 has shone a stark spotlight on our failure to uphold those rights to the best of our ability, not just because we couldn't but because we neglected to or chose chose not to.

The failure of many countries to invest sufficiently in universal and Primary Health care in accordance with the right to health has been exposed extremely short sighted.

These vital preventive measures are costly, but nothing like as costly as failing to invest in them has proved to be.

Many governments failed to act quickly or decisively enough to halve the spread of COVID-19.

Others refused to take it seriously or were not fully transparent about this spreads.

It's spread.

Astoundingly, even to this day, some political leaders are still playing down its impact, disparaging the use of simple measures such as wearing masks and avoiding large gatherings.

A few political figures are even still talking casually of herd immunity, as if the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives is a cost that can be easily borne for the sake of the greater good.

Politicising a pandemic in this way is beyond irresponsible.

It is utterly reprehensible.

Worse still, rather than bringing us together, the response to the pandemic has in some places led to further division.

Scientific evidence and process have been discounted, and conspiracy theories and this information had been sown and allowed or encouraged to thrive.

This action has plunged a knife into the heart of those most precious commodity.

[Other language spoken]

Trust between nations and trust within nations.

Trust in government.

Trust in scientific facts.

[Other language spoken]

Trust in the future if we're to bring about a better world in the wake of this calamity, as our ancestors undoubtedly did in the wake of World War Two, we had to rebuild that trust in each other.

It has been shocking, but sadly not all surprising, to see the disproportionate 12 COVID-19 on individuals and groups who are marginalised and suffered discrimination, in particular people of African descent, those from ethnic, national or religious minorities and indigenous people.

This has been the cause in some of the world's richest countries, where the mortality rate of some racial and ethnic minorities has been up to three times that of the overall population.

When COVID-19 hit, members of discriminated groups and indigenous people were overexposed to contagion because of their low pay and precarious work in specific industries.

Many of the people we suddenly started to recognise and refer to as essential healthcare workers, cleaners, transport workers, shop employees come from such minority.

They were also under protected because of limited access to healthcare and social protections such as cyclic and unemployment or furlough pay.

They were less able to isolate themselves once infected due to inadequate living conditions, limited access to sanitation, the inability to work from home.

This meant the virus could spread much more easily within their communities and from those communities back into wider society.

Over the past 11 months, the poor have become poorer and those suffering systemic discrimination have fared worst of all.

Children in homes with limited or not Internet access or computer equipment have fallen behind in their education or drop out of it all together, with girls specially badly affected in terms of basic economic security, employment, education, housing and food.

The pandemic is having a negative impact that is so vast and so wide-ranging it is almost impossible for us to grasp its enormity.

Had adequate social and economic protections been in place for a much higher proportion of the world's population, in poor countries and in rich ones, had we applied the human rights vaccine, we would not be in such a bad state as we are today.

COVID-19 has very clearly demonstrated that inequalities and discrimination not only harm the individuals who are directly affected and unfairly impacted, they create shock waves that ripple across the whole of society.

This was shown most graphically when the coronavirus raped its way through shockingly ill prepared and under equipped institutions such as care homes for all the people and people with disabilities, orphanage, migrant dormitories and prisons.

A compelling case, if ever there was one, for better regulated institutions and increased alternative to incarceration.

Those who were most critical to saving lives were themself inexcusably put at risk with surgeries of mask and protective clothing as the pandemic surged through the wards.

Health workers are only some 2 or 3% of national populations, yet they comprise around 14% of COVID cases reported to double HO.

The impact on women has been particularly devastating because of the horrendous increase in domestic violence all across the world, and because a large proportion of women work in the informal sector and in healthcare.

And because many were left with no choice but to withdraw from the labour market in order to care for children no longer able to go to school and for all the people and the sick.

In some areas, women's rights risk being set back decades, including through more limited access to sexual and abductive rights.

If we are to recover better, women will need to play a much greater role in decision making and priority setting.

It is no coincidence that in a world where so few countries have women leaders, several of the countries viewed as having handled the pandemic most effectively were in fact led by women.

Discrimination also lies at the heart of another of Twenty 20s defining features.

When racial injustice and police brutality were brought sharply into focus by the killing of George Floyd and the worldwide protest that followed.

In many countries we saw a burgeoning realisation of persistent social injustice and systemic racism, racing unresolved histories of racist oppression and demanding far reaching structural changes in countries in conflict, COVID had added an additional layer to already multifaceted human rights calamities.

In Yemen, a perfect storm of five years of conflict and violations, disease blockades and shortage of humanitarian funding set against an existing backdrop of poverty, poor governance and lack of development is pushing the country remorselessly towards full scale famine.

There has been no shortage of warnings about what will happen in Yemen in the coming month, but the destructive world is doing little to prevent this very preventable disaster.

Rights to free expression, to assembly and to participate in public life have been battered during the pandemic, not because of warranted restrictions or movement to constrain the spread of COVID, but by the actions of some governments taking advantage of the situation to shut down political dissent and criticism, including by arresting civil society actors and journalists.

Some appear to have also been using COVID fears and restrictions as a way to tilt elections in favour of the ruling party.

The contribution of civil society surviving the pandemic and recovering better once it is over will be absolutely vital, and the curtailing of civil society contributions is one of the surest ways of undermining that recovery.

By removing one of the key remedies the pandemic has left has left us exposed, vulnerable and weakened.

Yet in its devastation, it has also provided clear insights on how we can turn disaster into an opportunity to reset our priorities and improve our prospects for a better future.

Even with with stretch resources, the main ingredient that we need to build that future is political will, The will to put our money where it's most needed, not wanted, needed.

They will to fight corruption because in many countries, even very poor countries, there is more money available but much is lost when it goes straight into the pockets of a few.

We need to address inequality, including with tax reforms that can help could help fund major socio economic improvements.

Similarly, richer countries could need to help poorer countries survive this crisis and recover better.

Repairing the freight system of multilateralism will be essential to manage the recovery.

The work must begin at home.

But leaders in powerful countries need to once again recognise that more than ever, our world can only meet the global challenges through global cooperation.

Narrow nationalistic responses will simply undermine collective recovery.

The first Test of this will be our ability to ensure that new COVID vaccines and tools reach everyone who needs them.

The pandemic has highlighted over and over again that no one is safe until everyone is safe.

So will we seize this moment to devise ways to recover better?

Will we properly apply the human rights vaccine that can help us build more resilient, prosperous and inclusive societies?

Will we take the immediate, necessary steps to combat the biggest existential ****** of all, climate change?

Let's hope so, because we do not, especially with regard to climate change, 2020 will simply be the first step on the road to further calamity we have in war.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you very much, Commissioner, before moving to to those of you who've been raising your hands to ask questions, I just come.

Tama Abu Alin of the Kuwait News Agency isn't able to attend.

[Other language spoken]

So we'll start with that and then maybe we'll deal with the couple of journalists in the room and then we'll move to the hands race.

So, so Tama's question is the Muslim minority in Europe, he's very concerned about the trends that some European governments have begun to take against them, for example, in Switzerland, Austria, France and Germany.

So why did OHCHR not issue any statements on that?

And do you think, and this is really the question, do you think that the attitude of some European countries towards Muslims undermines the right to the rights to exercise freedom of religion, belief and conscience?

Well, I think it's important to stress that freedom of religion or belief and and freedom of expression are both fundamental and to a democratic society and individual self fulfilment, freedom of expression should be respected regardless of whether what has been said or written, for example, shocks, offence or disturb others.

This is as long as it is does not incite religious hatred, discrimination, hostility or violence.

At the same time, the exercise of freedom of expression carries with it the special duties and responsibilities.

Political and religious leaders must not add fuel to the fire and refraining from inciting violence, hostility or discrimination.

They also have a crucial role to play in speaking out firmly and promptly against intolerance instances of hate speech and discriminatory stereotypes.

In addition, they should make it clear that violence can never be tolerated as a response to incitement to hatred.

But I want to say that I've been in in a lot of webinars with with faith leaders and with faith-based organisation and they're really committed to to combat hate speech and intolerance.

Buenos Dias, Gracias and Espanol Venezuela and like no participation.

[Other language spoken]

The.

[Other language spoken]

OK, You want, you need me to say something in English, maybe just a very, very short summary of what you just said in English.

OK, well, what I was saying is that of course, the the elections were at least peaceful.

There was no big security issues.

[Other language spoken]

There were like 15 journalists that were intimidated in some way, but but they were mainly peaceful.

And, and I think that the main interest on the opposition for the next year will be the elections at the end of 2021 of governors and mayors and I think they will be working on that.

So we have just one more question in the room and then no, we've got a lot of questions as well.

Sorry, can't see who it is back then.

Thank you for taking my question.

Hi, Commissioner, my name is Peter Kenny.

I work for Anadulu Turkish News Agency and I also work for South African Media.

I'm a freelance journalist.

I would just like to ask you, in terms of the functioning of the Human Rights Council, how has COVID-19 impacted on the human rights aspects of it?

But also how has it impacted in terms of the costs of running the Council?

Because, you know, your organisation is always short of money and apparently it costs a lot more money to do things virtually than it does to do them in person.

[Other language spoken]

Well, I mean, first of all, I have to tell you that the Human Rights Council was the first to function after the COVID-19.

I mean, it managed to do the three sessions of the year.

Of course, we had to, you know, to postpone a part in the first session because of the COVID-19.

[Other language spoken]

The, the part we could not fulfil in in March, we did in June.

But we have done it in three times.

And even before the Security Council, even before the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council did work.

And the interesting thing of of as well is that because of the virtual possibilities, there was a lot of, of NGOs who could participate.

So it was not because one of the risks that we had is because people could not come to Geneva because of the restrictions of travel and so on, that it could undermine the possibility of civil society.

And it did not.

And it, it will, it permitted a lot of discussion with many, many interesting civil society groups.

Of course not the Human Rights Council, the human rights system has been impacted because of course, as you can imagine, the treaty bodies, the experts are not able to come here.

And some come from countries where sometimes technology is not the best and all the time, the time, the time zones are different.

So it has impacted, but at least on the treaty bodies, for example, they have been able to work on these petitions and individual petitions they were, they have been working very, very strongly.

And we're trying to avoid serious gaps in the protection of some of the world's more vulnerable people.

I think many of the, in the Human Rights Council, in particular, many of its deliberations focus on the impact of COVID-19 on the protection of human rights in the world.

And I think it was in a position to respond to several human rights emergency in 2020.

On the cost, I mean, I don't have the estimations right now.

Of course it costs a bit more.

But on the other hand, I would say we have been able to, to, to deliver and to, to do what we had to do.

And, and, and of course, for next year, you know that this year it will be the treaty bodies review.

And the General Assembly was going to make a, a resolution.

And I hope that in that resolution, they will really be able to fund better our treaty bodies because the Human Rights Council has work, but we need more money for the treaty bodies.

So they can really do the work virtually or not virtually.

It's, it's, it's independent of, of the COVID-19 we have, we are short of, of resources, as you know, but let's hope so that, that we have a better result this year.

Thank you very much.

And we've got, I think 9 more questions coming, which we should just be able to squeeze in.

We'll just take them in groups of three, if you don't mind, because it just makes it a little bit easier to to handle.

So the first three questions are from Jamil Chaddy of and Catherine Fianca and and the Croc.

So Jamil, would you like to start off with your question?

[Other language spoken]

Rupert, can you hear me OK?

[Other language spoken]

**** Commissioner.

Hello, This is Jamil Chaddy, journalist from Brazil.

Good to see you.

You mentioned in your speech leaders who opted to minimise the crisis the the pandemic.

Basically.

What are your views about Brazil specifically?

And, and I would like to have a comment from you on the behaviour of President Bolsonaro, who actually fits very well to all of those criterias that you mentioned in your speech.

Thank you very much.

Catherine Fionca.

Good morning, Madam Commiser, Catherine Fionca, Franz Mann Catherine, you mentioned in your speech the use of COVID-19 pandemic to reduce the access to information.

And I would like also you to comment the violation of the right of freedom of free expression and also regarding France, particularly the violence of the police and the draught of the security law that would restrict civil liberties.

So thank you for your comments.

Thank you, Catrine.

[Other language spoken]

I think that was 3 questions.

You might not get all three.

[Other language spoken]

Thank you Repair and good morning, **** Commissioner.

[Other language spoken]

If you could just tell us a little bit how you see the situation in Tigray, Ethiopia.

What message would you like to convey to the Ethiopian Prime Minister ABI Ahmed?

Because you know, it's actually almost one year anniversary for his him to get the Nobel Peace Prize.

You know, the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for him was like one year ago, and he received that novel for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation.

So in light of the situation in Tigray, what message message would you like to do you have for Prime Minister ABI Ahmed?

[Other language spoken]

Well, thank you very much.

I will try to remember the questions.

[Other language spoken]

I think that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact in Brazil.

I mean, you know, the region, Latin American region has done very bad, but done very bad in terms of number of cases on the health responses, but also in the economic consequences.

But in Brazil in particular, it has had a particular disproportionate impact on groups in vulnerable situation, including people living in poverty, Afro descendant indigenous peoples, LGTBI, people deprived of their liberty and those living in informal settlements.

Our Chantytown and I think it is paramount to ensure reliable and coherent institutional communication about the virus and its impact.

Statements by state officials underplaying the seriousness of the virus would have had a negative impact on the institutional response to the pandemic.

And I'm concerned about the structural racism, discrimination and violence persisting because official data indicates that the number of Afro Brazilian victims of homicide is disproportionately higher than other groups.

Data also shows that Afro Brazilians, including women, are overrepresented in prison population.

Afro Brazilians are excluded and almost invisible from decision making structures and institutions.

Government officials have a particular responsibility to acknowledge the underlying problem of the persisting racism in the country as this is the first essential step towards solving it.

I I was remembering the this terrible situation where private security officers killed Mr Silveira Freitas no.

So the state has the duty to prevent and redress human rights violations.

Business enterprises also have responsibility to respect human rights throughout their operations and a business relationship.

So this responsibility requires human rights due diligence to prevent, re identify and mitigate human rights risk, including in the contracting of private security.

And I remain concerned, of course about the environmental destruction in the Amazon and Pantanal Pantanal regions because I think the existing mechanism to ensure the protection of the environment in the country should be strengthened and adequately funded.

The independent work of civil society organisations working in with Amazon without undue interference from the government should be guaranteed and I hope Brazil will be able also to to sign the the agreement.

Escasu, you know, Escasu agreement is like agreement done in Latin America that is in terms of Environmental Protection and also human rights defenders, in particular environmental human rights defenders.

And it will, it will, I mean, I have a activity with EKLAC like a couple of days more or tomorrow where we will be sort of making this casu agreement valid.

And that's a very good thing.

So I hope Brazil also goes in that direction.

There was a lot of questions on, on, on, on countries where COVID-19 where used as an excuse to to restrict and constraint human rights.

And, and I think that two countries that are also had a an importance in terms of how they use this because of their internal elections.

Uganda and and Myanmar are two important examples where COVID-19 restrictions appear to have been instrumentalized by the ruling parties to restrict the right to political participation.

However, generally figures indicate from the International Foundation of Electoral Systems that elections has been postponed in 69 countries and eight territories with a total of 106 and and 16 elections event postponed due to the COVID-19.

But anyway, we have seen it in many places that the excuses, I mean, as you all know, in the international human rights law permits to, to, I would say, restrain certain freedoms because of a pandemic or because of natural disaster.

But those are the freedom of mobility and of course the freedom of, of, of putting, of gathering, but or, or I would say peaceful assembly.

But there's no restriction at all permitted in any international law on freedom of press or freedom of expression.

And in many places they have passed laws and, and decrease in terms of restricting the, the ability of journalist to inform the population of what's going on.

And particularly when they're, they have been sort of critical to what the government's doing.

So we have seen that we are following that we are monitoring it and we and we will continue speaking out because we understand that certain freedoms can be restricted, but there has to be in terms of adequate to the, to the, to the need.

So it has to be time, time, timely, the fine and it can be forever.

But some countries are just in a in a broader way.

In terms of France, I think that there will be there have been concerns highlighted from many quarters, risk of infringing human rights, freedom, freedom of expression and peace, opinion, peaceful assembly and association.

Overall security approach set out by the Article 24 of the law seem problematic.

Expanding powers of law enforcement, extending to private security guards, creating new offences and so on.

Also concern should about likely negative effects for people of African descent and ethnic minorities.

So concern also at possible stigmatisation of Muslims via the proposed law of republican principles.

But know that stigmatisation can lead to experiences for discrimination, alienation and mistress of government institutions in terms of police violence and use of force.

Well, I have previously raised concerns, notably during the G Legend protest.

Encourage authorities to ensure prompt, thorough, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all reported human rights violations.

Of course, we are also have long standing concerns regarding racism and racial profiling in law enforcement which need to be urgently addressed.

I mean, not in everywhere.

I, I, I, We see this in many countries of the world because they risk further damaging trust between the police and the public, especially racial and ethnic minorities.

So I urge France, as I urge many other countries to seriously examine it's law enforcement practises as well as systemic discriminatory practises and bias against certain racial groups.

And and of course, we urge French authority to avoid taking action that result in the stigmatisation of entire groups and urge them also to take active steps to ensure groups are not estimated size or have their human rights violated because of the of of certain individuals that can make not adequate things on Ethiopia.

The situation of in Ethiopia is I think it's really warring and volatile and I has, as I had warned, it's spiralling out of control with appalling impact on civilians.

In the Tigray region itself, fighting is reportedly continuing in spite of government claims to the contrary.

We have reports of particular areas surrounding towns like Michele Cherrero, Aksum, AB ABI Adi, and the borders between the Amhara and Tigray regions.

Fighting continues between federal forces and the TPLF and affiliated militias on both sides.

We have corroborated information of gross human rights violation abuses including indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian objects, looting, abductions and sexual violence against women and girls.

We have also reported force or equipment of Tigray and youth to fly to fight against their own communities.

I think a major impediment of course is that communication in the region remains limited and we have been unable to access worst affected area so are unable to fully verify these allegations through fact finding missions.

There is an urgent need for independent monitoring of the human rights situation in the Tigray region, all necessary measures to protect civilians and accountability for violations.

I think the humanitarian situation is also deeply distressing.

In spite of an agreement between the government and the UN, unfettered humanitarian access has not been possible.

So I appeal to the government to fulfil the Prime Minister's pledge to ensure humanitarian access and to ensure access to water, electricity, another basic need is restored.

Elsewhere in Ethiopia, there are numerous reports of ethnic profiling of Tigrans, including in Addis.

We have reports of dismissal from jobs, including in the civil service, harassment of Tigran journalist and hate speech again against Tigrains.

Well, I think that such discriminatory actions are deeply unjust but are also fostering divisiveness and sowing the seeds for further instability and conflict.

So I urge the government to take immediate measures to halt such discrimination.

We're also concerned in, in, in Ethiopia.

There has been a reported rise and intercommunal violence in recent weeks in other parts of Ethiopia, particularly in the Amhara, Benishangul, Gumus, Somali, Afar and Neuromia regions, which has reportedly resulted in fatalities.

If so, so we are really concerned about that and I hope that we can really ensure that humanitarian actors can do their life saving work without fear of attacks and that those responsible attack against humanitarian actors are held accountable in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian laws and standards.

The next three questions are from Laurent, Jeremy and Bianca.

So if we could, Lauren, if you could go first.

Yeah, thank you very much.

Laurence Rose, Swiss News Agency, **** Commissioner, good to see you again.

The sequence of election in the US is not over because there is still an election in Georgia.

And we saw recently the person in charge of the election in a vibrant speech calling for the end of intimidation before there might be some casualties in that process.

So how concerned are you about the environment conducive to this election and more broadly the long lasting effects of the whole sequence of election in the US?

And if I may, a very short follow up on France.

Does that mean that you called for an entire withdrawal, withdrawal of the the bill on global security?

[Other language spoken]

Thank you for letting me ask a question.

Jeremy Launch for the French Public Radio.

I would like to go back to the first question you had from Jamil about Brazil.

In the speech, you're saying that that politicising a pandemic is beyond irresponsible, It is utterly reprehensible.

And beyond Brazil, I would like to know if you can elaborate on that.

Which countries are you specifically targeting?

[Other language spoken]

Hi, Robert, can you hear me?

Yes, thanks a lot, Robert.

[Other language spoken]

I'm correspondent for Global, the largest different network in Brazil.

And again my my question is on Brazil.

You gave an overview of the human rights situation there, which was really great, but would be also important to hear.

You hear you more about the Brazilian response to the pandemic and possible human rights violation, and more specifically about the president, Zaibo Sonari, his behaviour, his posture, just giving a few examples.

I'm sure you remember he has already repeated that COVID is a little flu, he answered.

So what when it's been about rising coronavirus death toll, he ignores masks, wearing social distancing and so on.

So thanks a lot for your attention.

OK, well, Brazil has got a lot of interest I see today.

Well, I have to say something.

I, I usually none, do not name anybody in particular, but I will have to say that in any country of the world where leaders have denied the existence of COVID and the scientific evidence of COVID, there has been a devastating effect.

And there has been in many countries, not only Brazil, but also Brazil.

And I have mentioned that before as well.

And I think this is a it's, it's terrible because I mean, leaders need to give an example.

[Other language spoken]

You need to people, people to follow the recommendation of WHOI mean of what scientific evidence says it works like wearing a mask, like physical distancing, like washing your hands, etcetera, etcetera.

That helps, really helps to prevent the spread of the of the virus.

And if believers don't do that, they will not give the best example.

First, they would get infected themselves, as it has happened to some leaders in the world as well.

But second is not helping the, the whole country's response to, to a pandemic like like COVID-19.

So I, I, I think, I mean, I would say that to any leader who denies the pandemic, to deny science.

That's not, that's not the best because it will not work.

We'll have a lot of, I mean that.

I mean, the Latin American region is one of the ones who are biggest death tolls in the world.

And I think this is terrible.

And, and I think sometimes countries do not have all the economic resources or all the, the hospitals, They don't have all the possibilities.

But when you give the guidance, clear guidance to the people, people can avoid having the disease.

And I have to tell you this because in, in in Africa, there are places where they really have lack of resources.

But because of the experience with Ebola and others where the community is organised and know how to respond to this kind of, of, of diseases, there has been fewer cases of infection and fewer cases of death as well.

So I will say, I will hope that leaders in Brazil do give the example to the people that, that it's really important because one of the problems and why we have seen that in many countries, there's lack of participation of civil society.

And we know that people needs to be involved in decision making.

So they could understand why those decisions are made and that's why and and they need to have trust.

That's what I was talking about, trust in the institution and the organisation.

So I think that that I hope that in Brazil people could be, I mean leaders could be much more, I could say much more open to what the science is telling us if the USI think in in some way.

Also, the response to the pandemic was highly politicised from the outset.

So the US has just 4.25% of the world's total population, but 22% of the total number of recorded COVID costs and 18% of all COVID related to death.

[Other language spoken]

But on the on the other hand, President-elect Biden has made a series of a series of promising pledges, for example, expansion of the Defer Action for Childhood Arrivals protections, increase of the number of refugees to be resettled and of family separation and to the construction of the border wall and an overhaul of the asylum system.

But also that he will give a lot of priorities to human rights, to multilateralism that they will go back to Paris agreement.

So I hope that this new administration will bring us much better.

[Other language spoken]

I mean, for, for, for your human rights.

I think it will be much, much, much better.

I'm really hopeful on that.

In France.

I think I have nothing else to say.

Just, I mean the law has to be discussed by of course by the French people, but is the article 24 the ones we are really concerned about and and and that's what we are mentioning that that should be review and should be I guess withdrawn.

[Other language spoken]

The next three questions and then I have one in writing.

I'll come to after that, but from Nick, Nina and Lisa.

[Other language spoken]

One of the key racial issues that has kind of slipped a little bit off the radar as a result of COVID has been flight of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

It exists on the political agenda of a number of states.

Can we expect a little more detailed assessment from your office on the situation there?

And do you think it's time, given the politicisation of the discussions in the, I think it's time to provide a little bit of leadership on this issue from a purely human rights perspective?

[Other language spoken]

I guess I, I would also be interested in your take on on what's going on in in Hong Kong right now.

And also there was a report out by Weights Watch today talking about the use of of computer programmes for arbitrarily selecting Uyghurs for arrest in the in the region.

So if you could maybe say something about how the artificial intelligence and big data are being used, used there, that would be helpful.

[Other language spoken]

Hi, Commissioner, nice to see you, if only virtually.

Sorry about that.

You you did already mention a little bit about the human rights situation in in the Biden upcoming Biden administration.

I'd like you to elaborate a bit more on that.

I believe that the the Biden president-elect Biden places a higher value on human rights than unfortunately the Trump administration has.

So I'd like to hear your opinion about the possible impact of a new policy, human rights policy, in the upcoming administration, both nationally and internationally.

And specifically nationally in terms of the what I think is an appalling immigration policy and the separation of children from their parents.

And internationally, there seems to have been a lot of cozying up to autocratic governments such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia by the Trump administration.

Do you believe that this will change and possibly in a more positive way?

[Other language spoken]

Well, in terms of China and Xinjiang, of course, we continue to to be troubled by ongoing reports of a range of serious human rights violation and in Xinjiang, which have come from a variety of different sources.

But consistent with our usual practise, my team is seeking to verify the material on these issues which we have received.

My office and the Chinese government have resumed direct exchange on a visit to China following more limited contact over the COVID period, of course of because of COVID.

So I hope and I expect that to format a modality of such visit, providing the for meaningful access to concerned areas can be agreed soon in order to advance our assessment of the consistent concerns that have emerged.

So I our usual approach is when we don't have an office in the country is that we send the technical preparatory team to go before a visit by myself as a **** Commissioner.

And we will see such an approach in the first half of 2021 being available in this context.

So I hope we can do that mission as soon as possible.

On Hong Kong, I'm concerned about the rapidly shrinking civic and democratic space, especially since the passage of the national security law.

A year ago, in the midst of a mass protest in Hong Kong, I had called for a broad, open, inclusive dialogue to resolve the situation.

Regrettably, the space has been closing rather than opening.

Recent convictions of activists for protests that took place last year risk causing a wider shilling effect on the exercise of fundamental freedoms.

More have continued to be arrested and charged with a host of offences under various laws, including for unauthorised assembly.

So and we believe that peaceful process should never be criminalised.

In national security law, which is overly broad, has had a particularly shilling effect.

So the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has historically had a strong independent judiciary.

I call on judicial authorities to apply laws in conformity with Hong Kong's human rights obligations and so guarantee due process and fair trial rights.

And we will continue to monitor the situation closely.

On the US.

Well, I have not spoken with president-elect Biden.

I know him very well because when he was vice president, he President Obama has made him responsible for Latin America.

So he went many times to Latin America and every time he wanted to discuss something.

He will call me when I was a president to know my perceptions or my recommendations.

So, but I haven't called him because I think he's pretty busy right now.

But we'll do it when he's he, he's a president.

And I hope that all the pledges he already have done in terms of sexual reproductive health rights, climate change mitigation, systemic racism, or the ban on, on torture.

I, I, I, I, I welcome all those pledges.

And I'm sure he's working with the, the teams that he's been electing and chosen on all of these issues.

He had made, as I mentioned before, a series of promising pledges like the protection for the childhood arrivals.

And I think that's fantastic that they will stop the family separation and, and, and of course, all, all, all all the issue with the frontier, the border with Mexico.

If those pledges are implemented, I think they will have a positive impact on human rights in the US and globally.

They could also reverse policies carried out during Trump administration which have led to serious setbacks for human rights, including the rights of women, LGDBI persons, migrants or journalists.

I think the US leadership on human rights will also depend on how they face their internal rights challenges.

And I know, but the President Elect's acknowledgement of the need to address systemic racism as one of the administration for priority areas is a positive step in this direction.

Looking forward to renewed engagement by the US with multilateral organisations.

He has mentioned the engagement with WHO.

He has mentioned that they will support and strengthen multilateralism.

And I hope of course, they will also have a more active role in the Human Rights Council.

The Office, though, regrets that between 10th December and 15th of January, five people, including one women, are scheduled to be executed at the federal level.

So we call for prompt review of all federal death row cases to avoid arbitrary or discriminatory application of the death penalty.

Did I answer all the questions?

[Other language spoken]

So Gabriella, if you can keep it to one question and then we've got a perfect final question from Xinhua, which would wrap up this briefing.

[Other language spoken]

Yes, well, one question, Rupert, you're so unfair there.

There were a lot of questions about Brazil, but talking about leadership, I think I can.

I mean, if you can say one thing about President Lopez Obrador, that continues.

[Other language spoken]

He says it's not.

I mean, it's not necessary to use it, but he also disqualify any journalist who criticised him and health authorities are doing the same, disqualifying journalist who criticised their handling of the pandemia.

And also very quick.

Several special rapporteurs sent a a a communication to Mexico showing serious concern about the militarisation of the country, saying that the Warden National asked the facto as a military body.

So if you can talk a little bit about militarization in Mexico.

[Other language spoken]

My name is NIA from China Tsinghua news agency.

My question is very simple, but I think maybe suitable for the last question.

Looking back for the year 2020 and looking forward for the next year, would you use one or two keywords to summarise your feeling for the last year 2020?

And would you please use one or two keywords to express your hope for the year 2021?

Thank you very much.

Well, thank you very much.

Well, on Mexico, I have to say we're deeply concerned by death and attacks against journalists.

224 attacks were registered this year and 19 journalists have been murdered in in 2020 alone and 138 reporters killed since 2010.

So we always will call for increased efforts to prevent, investigate and sanction these attacks.

Prevention and protection measures for those who contribute to film expression.

I mean, we, we, when I went to Mexico like one year and more, a little bit more than one year, we did, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the government.

And one of the things that we decided was to contribute to, to an analysis of the prevention system that they had the protection system.

And of course, and, and we gave like 100, more than 100 recommendations how to improve that.

So I hope they are following it because of course, we're really concerned about so many journalists being killed and and of course, social leaders as well.

So we believe that.

I mean, we, we analysed the system, it had good things, but it has it was lacking of others.

So I hope they will follow our recommendations.

And I call also them to invest in essential services, prevention and data gathering to eradicate violence against women, because 7 out of 10 women in Mexico has suffered some type of violence.

Each year 3800 women and girls are murdered in Mexico.

I also welcome the ratification of Mexico by Mexico of the historic I mentioned before Escasul agreement.

And I trust that full implementation of the treaty will be guaranteed, including protection of environmental defenders.

Mexico accepting also that's another positive thing is that they accept the competence of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances to receive individual communications.

And I think it's a very important step for families and victims.

It allows them to access international protection mechanism in the search for truth and justice.

When I went there, I, I had many meetings with the with the mothers of the disappear ones with a lot of families and victims.

And I think for them this will be a very important step.

The security contacts in Mexico, with the proliferation of organised crime and the increase of illicit trafficking, is also highly complex.

Expanding civic, civil and public orders functions to military forces as an ordinary rule instead of an exception has an impact on human rights, and my office has called for a reconsideration of these measures to comply with international standards.

President Lopez Obrador's administration has been characterised by an increased attribution of powers.

Of the armed forces, including internal security matters through the creation of the National Guard, as you mentioned, Gabriel.

So the Secretary of Defence has also played an increasing role in projects launched by President Lopez Obrador, increasing its budget and role in the development of public infrastructure.

Well, having been a Minister of Defence, I understand that armed forces can play a very important role in a lot of things, for example, in the response to the pandemic.

They, because they are very good on logistics and infrastructure, they can be play a very important role.

But it has to be guided by civilians, by politicians, and they're the ones who give the orders.

And they just, the military has to follow the orders that the the the political, political actors that have been elected by the people give.

At the end, I have to say, not in particular, but I will hope that all leaders, all leaders in any country really understand the importance of the measures that WHO has mentioned for the COVID-19, the, the, the use of the, of the mask, washing your hands frequently, physical distancing.

And I will hope that all leaders do the same because we need people to trust the authorities.

We need people to be safe.

And that's the way we can be safe.

On the question of my, my last question, which could be my keywords, let me think about it.

I would say it would be the, the logo, the motto that is for tomorrow, for the Human Rights Day, it is recover better.

I mean, one thing that we cannot do is to go back to the day zero before COVID-19 started.

We need that world that was a world full of inequalities, full of misery.

For many people in the world, hunger was going on.

So we need a world who recovers better.

We need a world who includes a, it has an inclusive economy where everybody can have a, where prosperity is shared by everyone.

And we need a greener world where sustainability is essential, where we respect nature, where biodiversity is respected.

Because otherwise, I mean, we can find a vaccine for COVID, but then we will have other crises that will come, other diseases and so on.

So I will say we need to recover better and not expect to go back to that world that made us have the situation we are in there now.

I mean that terrible have you in in equal world?

No, we need to recover that.

We need the world where everyone has the the rights preserved, protected and insured.

Thank you very much, **** Commissioner.

Apologies to to Carl Mara, Mara of ARD, but we just don't have time WHO has a press conference starting now.

But thank you very much, **** Commissioner and thank you all for taking part in this press briefing.

And don't forget it's Human Rights Day tomorrow and give it all the attention you can give it.

Thank you very much.

It will be a virtual human rights.