COVID State Watch

Monitoring abuse of police powers and states of emergency during #Coronavirus #Covid19. Tag or DM to share info.

Support your neighbour, distrust your state.

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

#Coronavirus is both a genuine emergency and the perfect excuse for a government power grab. States across the world are expanding police powers and rushing through emergency laws.

@COVIDStateWatch keeps track of the use and abuse of these new powers.

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

This report by @ActivistLegal documents police using excessive force and dangerous weapons during anti-lockdown protests, placing these developments within a wider context of increasingly violent repression of protestors. https://t.co/3a75tFDq4M

[Institute of Race Relations @IRR_News]

Thanks to Stopwatch for mentioning our new report with @EthnicityUK on policing during the pandemic in their latest newsletter.

Read the report at https://t.co/F4AjSCyBWV

[Melbourne Activist Legal Support (MALS) @ActivistLegal]

The old, predictable & racist patterns of policing under COVID #COVID19nsw #COVID19Aus #Covidvic @COVIDStateWatch #Covidpolcing https://t.co/jKDA7DVptX

[Pluto Press @PlutoPress]

Join us for week 3 of JUSTICE MEANS EVERYONE, a webinar series from @ReclaimJustice and Pluto Press!

Speakers include @eda_seyhan from @COVIDStateWatch, @chilledasad100 from @WarOnWant and Sam Grant from @libertyhq

🗓Wed 10th February
⏰6pm GMT

RSVP: https://t.co/X51grg33jL

[Abolitionist Futures @ReclaimJustice]

'The future of our civil liberties' aims to take stock of the terrain on which we find ourselves and the challenges coming towards us and how we move ahead. Speakers include @eda_seyhan from @COVIDStateWatch, @chilledasad100 from @WarOnWant and Sam Grant from @libertyhq.

[Criminal Justice & Police Accountability Project @CPAProjectIndia]

Here are some more infographics from our report. We see that vendors formed a significant percentage of those policed, among them street vendors and shopkeepers selling essential goods, a city's lifeline. Ask who could take advantage of the 'home-delivery' that was permitted.

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

We had the pleasure of speaking to @intersezionale about state repression and violence in the wake of #covid19, and why the Left response to the pandemic must demand a #covidwithoutcops.

https://t.co/HGHLCbXsu0

[Intersezionale @intersezionale]

Intervista a @COVIDStateWatch , che da fine marzo 2020 ha iniziato a “monitorare degli abusi dei poteri di polizia e degli stati di emergenza durante il #Coronavirus”.

https://t.co/YPuf58TJiT

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

The study concludes that the pandemic has exacerbated problems with policing in India, and underscored the need to move beyond criminal law responses to social problems.

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

.@CPAProjectIndia analysed 34k arrest records and 500 police reports in Madhya Pradesh (India) to identify patterns of #Covid19 policing.

Police exercised their wide discretionary powers arbitrarily & disproportionately against marginalised groups.

https://t.co/nAPOI2h3ne

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

Every 5th person policed was a street vendor or low-income shopkeeper. 45% of them were providing essentials like food + other groceries.

Despite providing affordable food to the urban poor, street vendors often face harassment from police, exacerbated by broad lockdown powers.

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

A court in #Australia issued an order preventing a refugee rights protest, requiring the organisers to post on Facebook that the protests had been cancelled.

The judge noted the higher risk of #COVID19 from the sit-down protest compared to a march. https://t.co/I1dOSt2zbj

[Community Resource Hub for Safety & Accountability @cresourcehub]

As infections rise, and as "pandemic fatigue" keeps spreading, we need a state response that is not focused on criminalization, policing & severe enforcement of COVID-related orders. Instead, we should be focused on giving people supports they need to stay safe: #COVIDWithoutCops

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

A protest march by miners from western and southern Turkey to Ankara was stopped by law enforcement, citing #COVID19.

COVID-19 rules had not prevented the miners from working together underground, with minimal health precautions.
#MadenciyleYürü https://t.co/FHQ7JtdaGE

[Jeremy King @JeremyKingRG]

Drones, unmanned surveillance towers, extra PSOs... the overreaching and disproportionate response to a health crisis is truly staggering. #VicPolWatch

[Aaron Bady @zunguzungu]

"Ethiopia can jail people for up to two years if they deliberately violate restrictions aimed at curbing Covid-19...shaking hands, not wearing a mask in a public place, seating more than three at a table or not keeping "two adult steps" apart." https://t.co/DwbDrIxcAj

[COVID State Watch @COVIDStateWatch]

We've been quiet but we have news.

Coming soon:
🎥TWO METERS
A film directed by Sacha Biton & produced by @COVIDStateWatch.

It's about everyday life during lockdown and policing, shot from our window or in the 1km range within which we were allowed to move.

Watch this space.