South Africa Should Allow Peaceful Protest by People "Dying for
Treatment"

(New York, March 21, 2003) -The South African government should not
respond with violence to HIV/AIDS demonstrators seeking medical
treatment, Human Rights Watch said today. Police in Durban yesterday
opened water cannons on some 70 peaceful demonstrators who were urging
the government to provide antiretroviral treatment for persons living
with HIV/AIDS. This attack took place on the eve of South Africa's Human
Rights Day, established in memory of the victims of apartheid-era
atrocities.

"There is no justification for violence on the part of the authorities
in the face of peaceful protest," said Joanne Csete, director of the
HIV/AIDS Program of Human Rights Watch. "The treatment movement's
methods have consistently been nonviolent, and the police response is
unfitting for a country committed to human rights."

The organization Treatment Access Campaign (TAC) is leading a series of
civil disobedience actions in a campaign called "Dying for Treatment"
that includes peaceful demonstrations near police stations. TAC's
strategy is to send a few protestors into police stations to bring
charges of manslaughter against key government officials who are alleged
to have impeded access to life-saving treatment for people with AIDS,
knowing that those who enter police stations to present these charges
are likely to be arrested. It was after the presentation of these
charges that police in Durban tried to disperse the demonstrators
outside the station and, when they refused to disperse, used water
cannons to clear the area. No arrests were reported in the Durban
incident.

South Africa is home to about 5 million persons with AIDS. The
government has repeatedly refused to provide antiretroviral treatment
through government health programs and had to be taken to court in 2002
to be forced to provide even the short course of antiretroviral
medicines that can reduce the risk of HIV transmission in childbirth,
routinely provided in countries much more resource-strapped than South
Africa. (See Human Rights Watch letter to President Thabo Mbeki on this
case http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/11/mbekiltr1120.htm)

"We urge the government not to compound its inaction in addressing the
HIV/AIDS crisis in the country by responding inappropriately to peaceful
protestors," said Csete. "People with AIDS have suffered enough-it's
time to work with them to avert death on a massive scale, not to treat
them like criminals."

For more information on South Africa, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/southafrica.php

For more information on AIDS/HIV and human rights, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/aids/index.php

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SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS activists condemn police action

JOHANNESBURG, 24 March (PLUSNEWS) - South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Monday condemned the government's response to peaceful protestors demanding a national HIV/AIDS treatment plan.

Police responded to demonstrators in the port city of Durban on Thursday by using water cannons and teargas. "Some were also physically attacked," TAC national manager, Nathan Geffen, told PlusNews.

He said TAC was currently discussing legal action against the police responsible for the alleged assaults.

TAC launched its protest campaign last week called "Dying for Treatment" which included peaceful demonstrations near police stations to draw attention to the government's alleged failure to effectively tackle HIV/AIDS.

The plan involved sending a few protestors into police stations to bring charges of manslaughter against key South African ministers who are alleged to have impeded access to life-saving treatment for people with AIDS.

"It was after the presentation of these charges that police in Durban tried to disperse the demonstrators outside the station and, when they refused to disperse, used water cannons to clear the area. No arrests were reported in the Durban incident," Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement.

"South Africa is home to about five million people living with AIDS. The government has repeatedly refused to provide antiretroviral treatment through government health programmes and had to be taken to court in 2002 to be forced to provide even the short course of antiretroviral medicines that can reduce the risk of HIV transmission in childbirth, routinely provided in countries much more resource-strapped than South Africa," the rights group said.

"We urge the government not to compound its inaction in addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis in the country by responding inappropriately to peaceful protestors," HIV/AIDS programme director for HRW, Joanne Csete, said in a statement. "People with AIDS have suffered enough - it's time to work with them to avert death on a massive scale, not to treat them like criminals."

[ENDS]

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