Greek lockdown enforcement violated rights, Amnesty International reports

Amnesty International finds Greek authorities have used the Covid-19 pandemic to violate the right to protest | Amnesty International: 

July 14, 2021 - "Under the guise of the Covid-19 pandemic the Greek authorities have used arbitrary arrests, blanket bans, unjustified fines and unlawful use of force to curb peaceful protest, new research by Amnesty International has revealed.... 

"'The Greek authorities used shocking tactics to try to scare women’s rights activists, trade unionists, members of political parties, lawyers and others who were participating or called for participation in peaceful protests in November and December 2020 after the country entered its second lockdown. Many were arbitrarily arrested, criminalized and handed unjustified fines in a blatant abuse of power by authorities.' [said] Kondylia Gogou, Greece Researcher at Amnesty International

"The Greek authorities have a responsibility to facilitate peaceful protest.... Restrictions to the right to freedom of peaceful assembly to curb the pandemic are permissible but must be subject to strict criteria, meet the principles of necessity and proportionality and assessed on a case-by-case basis. Governments do not have carte blanche to restrict human rights, even during a pandemic. 

“Greek authorities justified blanket bans on protest and other rights violations by citing the threat posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Ironically, they then implemented these bans by detaining protestors in enclosed spaces, putting them at much higher risk of transmission. 

"Curbs on peaceful protests were also codified into law in the months after Greece exited the first lockdown. Legislative reforms regulating demonstrations were introduced in July and September 2020 which allow for counter demonstrations to be prohibited and peaceful assemblies to be dispersed if organizers do not fulfil notification requirements. Legislation on the use of surveillance systems in demonstrations and its implementation also raise concerns including about a chilling effect ... on peaceful demonstrators. These changes will have far-reaching consequences which will last long beyond the end of the pandemic.... 

"Interviewees from a number of protests described how police resorted unnecessarily to the use of water cannon and chemical irritants against peaceful protesters. Some spoke of police hitting them on their heads with batons and using stun grenades in a way that could cause considerable injury....

"Once in police custody some of the individuals interviewed by Amnesty International described being subjected to treatment that may amount to torture or other ill-treatment. Aris Papazacharoudakis, a twenty-one year old protester said that he was tortured during his questioning by police.... '…They were throwing me from my chair, they were lifting me from my handcuffs (and) I felt that my shoulders would dislocate… It (was) a process of non-stop beating'…. 

Giorgos [not their real name] ... sustained a series of injuries during a student protest in Ioannina on 17 November 2020 ... 'I had fallen on the ground… before I got up, they threw stun grenades right  at us… I gave a mighty scream because the (stun grenade) exploded before my eyes and next to my left ear… (They) threw me on the ground and got me to a spot a little further away behind all  the other students and a little bit away  the cameras and there were five to six police officers who were  beating me up'.... 

"'The Greek authorities must halt the criminalization of peaceful assembly and annul any fines given to peaceful protesters, lawyers and women’s rights activists and those other individuals who were arbitrarily arrested prior and during the November and December 2020 demonstrations. Any charges against them for allegedly breaching public health rules must be dropped and prompt and thorough investigations must also be conducted into all the cases of human rights violations Amnesty International has documented,' said Kondylia Gogou." 

 Read more: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/07/greece-authorities-abusing-power-to-trample-on-right-to-protest/

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact: Alison Abrahams on  alison.abrahams@amnesty.org +32 483 680 812 [or] press@amnesty.org +44 20 7413 5566

UK's Freedom Day "a threat to the world" say ZeroCovid scientists

England’s Covid unlocking is threat to world, say 1,200 scientists | The Guardian - Ben Quinn: 

July 16, 2021 - "Boris Johnson’s plan to lift virtually all of England’s pandemic restrictions on Monday is a threat to the world and provides fertile ground for the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants, international experts say. Britain’s position as a global transport hub would mean any new variant here would rapidly spread around the world, scientists and physicians warned at an emergency summit.... Government advisers in New Zealand, Israel and Italy were among those who sounded alarm bells about the policy, while more than 1,200 scientists backed a letter to the Lancet journal warning the strategy could allow vaccine-resistant variants to develop.

"An adviser to New Zealand’s government told the summit he and his colleagues were astounded at the approach being taken in England. 'In New Zealand we have always looked to the UK for leadership when it comes to scientific expertise, which is why it’s so remarkable that it is not following even basic public health principles,' said Michael Baker*, a professor of public health at the University of Otago and a member of the New Zealand ministry of health’s Covid-19 technical advisory group.

"Also participating was Prof José Martin-Moreno* of the University of Valencia, a senior adviser to the World Health Organization (WHO), who said: 'We cannot understand why this is happening in spite of the scientific knowledge that you have'....

"What I fear is that that the some of the worst impulses in many of our states will follow the UK example,” said Dr William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School researcher and a pioneering Aids researcher who chairs Access Health International, a New York-based thinktank. 'I am extremely dismayed to see the very rapid rate of increasing infections in a population that is vaccinated pretty much like we are.'

"Prof Christina Pagel*, the director of University College London’s clinical operational research unit, told the meeting: 'Because of our position as a global travel hub, any variant that becomes dominant in the UK will likely spread to the rest of the globe. The UK policy doesn’t just affect us. It affects everybody and everybody has a stake in what we do.'

"The letter to the Lancet said: 'We believe the government is embarking on a dangerous and unethical experiment, and we call on it to pause plans to abandon mitigations on July 19, 2021.'

"The world is watching the current avoidable crisis unfold in the UK,' said Dr Deepti Gurdasani*, a clinical epidemiologist and senior lecturer at Queen Mary University of London, who is taking part in Friday’s summit. She added on Twitter: 'Let’s be under no illusions – we are in a country where our government is taking steps to maximally expose our young to a virus that causes chronic illness in many. Our govt is ending all protections for our children." 

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/16/englands-covid-unlocking-a-threat-to-the-world-experts-say

* - signatories of the John Snow memorandum

Biden wants Facebook to do more deplatforming

Facebook is caught between two political parties, both of which want to control it and tell it whom to platform; and however it responds will only increase anger at it.

The Government Should Stop Telling Facebook To Suppress COVID-19 'Misinformation' | Reason - Robby Soave:

July 15, 2021 - "The federal government is stepping up its effort to purge the internet of COVID-19 'misinformation.' On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki singled out a dozen specific anti-vaccine Facebook accounts and called on the platform to ban them....

"The federal government is not explicitly ordering tech platforms to take down content. These dictates are essentially strongly-worded suggestions. But you're forgiven if you think Psaki's summary of the report sounded like a command. 'Facebook needs to move more quickly to remove harmful, violative posts,' she said. 'Posts that would be within their policy for removal often remain up for days, and that's too long. The information spreads too quickly.'

"Psaki was alluding to anti-vaccine content, though the report itself impugns 'medical misinformation' more broadly. Of course, the government itself has spread plenty of 'medical misinformation,' from the early bad guidance on masks to White House coronavirus czar Anthony Fauci's deliberate misstatements about the herd immunity threshold. For months, government health officials treated the lab leak theory of COVID-19's origins as a wild conspiracy theory, and Facebook followed suit: It vigorously censored content that promoted the lab leak theory. That policy was not revised until June.

"Efforts by the government and tech platforms to suppress misinformation have undeniably resulted sometimes in the suppression of information that is ... or could plausibly turn out to be factual. (This has been the case outside the realm of pandemic-related content as well.) New initiatives undertaken by the federal government that would encourage Facebook to be even more heavy-handed with potential misinformation should be met with skepticism: The track record is just not very encouraging.

"The White House's targeting of Facebook should make critics a little sympathetic to Mark Zuckerberg's position. Prominent legislators from both political parties — as well as the current and former presidents — want to aggressively regulate his company if not break it apart entirely. Facebook's CEO must feel tremendous pressure to give federal health bureacrats exactly what they're asking for, or else.

"Instead of defending the rights of private companies to set their own moderation policies independent of whatever the government would like them to do, Republicans are taking this opportunity to further erode Facebook's autonomy. Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) even suggested that the site's submission to the feds renders it an agent of the state.... Hawley is essentially saying that a private company complying with the government becomes a state actor, and thus should be bound to the same restrictions as any other public agency. But Hawley and others are also attempting to punish these same private companies for not doing what [they want]. (In Hawley's case, he wants Facebook to suppress fewer posts.) That's quite a Catch-22: Facebook is in trouble either way."

Read more: https://reason.com/2021/07/15/covid-19-vaccines-misinformation-jen-psaki-white-house-biden/

Severe Covid illness 'extremely rare' in children

In Children, Risk of Covid-19 Death or Serious Illness Remains Extremely Low, New Studies Find - Wall Street Journal - Denise Roland:

July 8, 2021 - "Children are at extremely slim risk of dying from Covid-19, according to some of the most comprehensive studies to date, which indicate the threat might be even lower than previously thought. 

"Some 99.995% of the 469,982 children in England who were infected during the year examined by researchers survived, one study found. In fact, there were fewer deaths among children due to the virus than initially suspected. Among the 61 child deaths linked to a positive Covid-19 test in England, 25 were actually caused by the illness, the study found.

"The three studies, by researchers in the U.K. reviewing its national health system’s medical records or pulling together data from other countries, were published on preprint servers Thursday. The studies haven’t yet been reviewed by independent experts and are preliminary. The studies provide some of the most detailed analysis yet of severe illness and death from Covid-19 in children, a closely watched subject as schools prepare for a new academic year and parents weigh whether to have their children vaccinated if shots are cleared for younger ages. One of the studies focused only on deaths, while the other two examined the risks of severe illness and death.... 

"Researchers conducting the death study analyzed several national databases to identify children under 18 across England who had died from Covid-19 in the first year of the pandemic, from March 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021. 'England is a large enough country and it’s had enough Covid, sadly, that we have better data than almost anywhere else in the world on the risks,' said Russell Viner, a professor of adolescent health at the University College London Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health and senior author on the death study as well as another looking at English hospital and intensive-care admissions. Researchers from the University of Bristol, University of York and University of Liverpool were also key contributors to the three papers....

"Underlying health conditions, especially serious brain or nerve-related disabilities, increased the risk of dying of Covid-19, according to the study looking at child deaths. Fifteen of the 25 children in England who died because of Covid-19 during the period examined had underlying serious illnesses, the researchers said, while four had chronic underlying conditions.... Three of the deaths were due to multisystem inflammatory syndrome.... Six of the children who died due to Covid-19 didn’t appear to have an underlying health condition.... No child with a stand-alone diagnosis of asthma, diabetes, epilepsy or Down syndrome died from Covid-19, the researchers said.

"Underlying health conditions also raised the risk of severe illness, the two other papers said.... [O]ne of the studies ... found a higher risk of admission to intensive care among children with health conditions such as diabetes, asthma and cardiovascular disease. Those with multiple conditions had the highest risk. Even so, the absolute risk was very small, the researchers said.

"The studies all related to time periods that predated the emergence of the Delta variant that is now dominant in both the U.K. and the U.S., but the authors said there was as yet no evidence that the variant causes more severe illness or death among children.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-children-risk-of-covid-19-death-or-serious-illness-remain-extremely-low-new-studies-find-11625785260 

Ivermectin reduces severity of Covid infection, Pasteur Institute finds

Ivermectin reduces 'the severity of infection' with Covid-19, according to the Pasteur Institute - RT France (Google translated):

July 14, 2020 - "The Pasteur Institute is fueling the debate on ivermectin. The research center unveiled on July 12 a study on the effects of this antiparasitic treatment against Covid-19, which concludes that 'taking this drug at standard doses makes it possible to reduce in an animal model the symptoms and the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection'. The work of the scientists of the institute, published in the journal of the European Organization of Molecular Biology, thus underline that the ivermectin molecule causes 'a limitation of the inflammation of the respiratory tract and the symptoms which result from it' and 'protection against loss of smell'. 

"[T]he treatment does not seem to act on viral replication: 'The treated and untreated models had similar amounts of viral load in the nasal cavity and in the lungs. Our results show that ivermectin has an immunomodulatory and not an antiviral effect,' explained Guilherme Dias de Melo, epidemiologist and co-author of the study. Hervé Bourhy, head of unit at the Institut Pasteur who also took part in the work, nevertheless believes that these 'results provide significant progress and [...] pave the way for development axes for better treatments against Covid -19 in humans'. 

"Ivermectin is an antiparasitic commonly used against parasites such as scabies, onchocerciasis (river blindness) or lice. The drug is the subject of a promotional campaign on the networks, in particular since an Australian study published in the spring of 2020 had observed an in vitro efficacy of the ivermectin molecule on Sars-CoV-2. 

"But on March 31, a WHO [World Health Organization] clinical team said that the data from studies to measure their effectiveness against Covid-19 had not provided convincing results.... In addition, the manufacturer of the drug, Merck, assured on February 4 that the idea of ​​a 'potential therapeutic effect against Covid-19 has no scientific basis'.... 

"'Most often carried out in emerging countries, these clinical trials did not meet the conditions required for the testing of drugs in our country. This has led to criticism both within the World Health Organization and within the Directorate-General for Health' explained ... Jean-Pierre Changeux, famous neurobiologist co-signatory of the French study. Another factor, 'the controversy around hydroxychloroquine [another antiparasitic] has greatly affected the objective evaluation of ivermectin', argued the researcher. 

"[T]he institute's team followed a path developed over the past year by Jean-Pierre Changeux with Zahir Amoura, from Pitié-Salpêtrière. In March 2020, one of the latter's interns wondered about Chinese studies showing a low number of smokers among the sick. They then worked on the protection potential of nicotine against Covid-19. The two scientists started from the idea that the virus enters the body through the nicotinic receptor, a protein contained in neurons that Jean-Pierre Changeux himself had discovered and isolated in 1970. 'Our hypothesis is that the coronavirus would block directly or indirectly this receptor and that ivermectin could reactivate it' explained the neurobiologist.... 

"Despite the disavowal of the WHO, the drug has already met with success in several countries such as Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa. In Indonesia, AFP reports that pharmacies are facing a rush on ivermectin. Also in India, where a collective of lawyers from Bombay has announced that it is launching a lawsuit against Soumya Swaminathan, a pediatrician specializing in tuberculosis and scientific director of the WHO. Indian lawyers accuse him of dismissing evidence in favor of ivermectin, of having tweeted advising against its use (which they liken to disinformation leading to deaths), and of promoting laboratories that produce vaccines."

Read more: https://francais.rt.com/france/88707-ivermectine-reduit-gravite-infection-covid-19-selon-institut-pasteur

Read study: https://www.pasteur.fr/fr/espace-presse/documents-presse/ivermectine-attenue-symptomes-covid-19-modele-animal

Europeans protest Covid vaccine mandates

Protests hit Athens and Paris over new coronavirus restrictions, vaccine mandates | Washington Post - Erin Cunningham & Isabelle Khurshudyan:

July 15, 2021 - "Protests flared in France and Greece on Wednesday as residents angry over coronavirus curbs and vaccine mandates in both countries marched against new, stricter regulations that they say discriminate against people unwilling to be inoculated.

"In Paris, demonstrators clashed with police after French President Emmanuel Macron ... mandated vaccinations for all health-care workers and said new rules would require unvaccinated people to show negative coronavirus tests before entering bars, restaurants and other entertainment venues.

"Also this week, Greek authorities said all medical workers would need to be immunized or face penalties, and only vaccinated individuals would be allowed to use public indoor spaces until Aug. 31, through the height of Greece’s tourism season. The policies prompted demonstrations in Athens, where thousands gathered outside parliament Wednesday under heavy police presence."
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/15/coronavirus-latest-updates/

France protests: clashes with police on Bastille Day amid anger at tighter Covid rules | The Guardian - Agence France-Presse:

July 14, 2021 -  "Protests began in the French capital on Wednesday morning as the annual military parade for the traditional Bastille Day parade was taking place along the famous Champs-Élysées watched by president Emmanuel Macron. The demonstrators are unhappy at the decision announced on Monday to oblige health workers to get vaccinated and bring in a vaccine health pass for most public places. Unvaccinated people would require, for example, a negative test result to enter restaurants.

"In one area of the French capital police fired teargas to disperse the crowd. The declared route was not respected, the prefecture of police said in a tweet, condemning the 'throwing of projectiles' and lighting of fires by the protesters. 

"Throughout Paris some 2,250 people protested, while other demonstrations took place in Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpelier, Nantes and elsewhere. The French authorities put the total number of protesters at 19,000."
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/15/france-protests-clashes-with-police-on-bastille-day-amid-anger-at-tighter-covid-rules

In Athens, thousands rally against COVID-19 vaccinations | Reuters:

July 14, 2021 - "More than 5,000 anti-vaccine protesters, some them waving Greek flags and wooden crosses, rallied in Athens on Wednesday to oppose Greece’s coronavirus vaccinations programme. Shouting 'take your vaccines and get out of here!' and calling on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to resign, the protesters gathered outside parliament under heavy police presence....

"On Monday, the government ordered the mandatory vaccination of healthcare workers and nursing home staff following a steep rise in new COVID-19 infections in the middle of the vital tourism season."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-greece-vaccines-pr/in-athens-thousands-rally-against-covid-19-vaccinations-idUSKBN2EK2FL

Hundreds of people protest Government response to pandemic | Irish Times - Sarah Burns & Marie O'Halloran:

July 15, 2021 - "Hundreds of people gathered outside the Convention Centre in Dublin on Wednesday night to protest against the Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Protestors, which included some anti-mask and anti-vaccination demonstrators, congregated outside the Docklands venue at 9pm and had dispersed by around 1am....

"TDs [members of the lower house of parliament] on Wednesday passed Government legislation to allow for the reopening of indoor dining. The Health (Amendment No.2) Bill 2021 will allow pubs and restaurants to resume indoor service for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 or who have recovered from the disease in the last six months....

"Waving flags and shouting various slogans including 'shame on you' the crowd crossed all age groups but included a large number of young people and those who said they had never previously attended a demonstration before but were angry at what they perceived as a division of society between the vaccinated and unvaccinated, which they said was discriminatory."
Read more: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/hundreds-of-people-protest-government-response-to-pandemic-1.4621261

Covid reinfection rate under 1/10,000 in Israel

Natural infection vs vaccination: Which gives more protection? | Arutz Sheva 7 - David Rosenberg:

July 13, 2021 - "Health Ministry data on the wave of COVID outbreaks which began this May show that Israelis with immunity from natural infection were far less likely to become infected again in comparison to Israelis who only had immunity via vaccination.

"More than 7,700 new cases of the virus have been detected during the most recent wave starting in May, but just 72 of the confirmed cases were reported in people who were known to have been infected previously – that is, less than 1% of the new cases. Roughly 40% of new cases – or more than 3,000 patients – involved people who had been infected despite being vaccinated.

"With a total of 835,792 Israelis known to have recovered from the virus, the 72 instances of reinfection amount to 0.0086% of people who were already infected with COVID. By contrast, Israelis who were vaccinated were 6.72 times more likely to get infected after the shot than after natural infection, with over 3,000 of the 5,193,499, or 0.0578%, of Israelis who were vaccinated getting infected in the latest wave.

"According to a report by Channel 13, the disparity has confounded – and divided – Health Ministry experts, with some saying the data proves the higher level of immunity provided by natural infection versus vaccination, while others remained unconvinced.

Read more: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309762