Dear Colleagues,

An open letter is being circulated about the health of those who remain imprisoned in Canada during the COVID-19 outbreak and demanding actions to this issue. Please consider signing and circulating among your colleagues and networks. Details are below.

Information about the demands are available here<https://docs.google.com/document/d/11NHtn_-Am_DqF5vl22b_OnL0ONWsuM6mVi_KnO5UV5I/edit?usp=sharing>. You can sign the letter here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJJD72yiPCzVdVNgpvqM4M6mOy4DoXnCfOJTIg8N3wSnW0TA/viewform>.

Best regards,
Abtin



CONTAIN COVID19, NOT PEOPLE

As our government calls on people to prioritize health, protocols to protect or prioritize the health of people who remain imprisoned have yet to be announced. As people and organizations dedicated to supporting individuals who are imprisoned and their communities, we are concerned about the lack of protocols to protect and prioritize the health of those who remain behind bars. People should be released. We demand a response to COVID19 that leaves no one behind, and centers those most impacted by the virus’ impacts. If we are to combat the spread of COVID19, and prioritize everyone’s health, we must adopt an approach that centers the needs of our most vulnerable. Jails, prisons, immigration detention centers, juvenile detention facilities, and courthouses provide specific challenges <https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/03/16/this-will-spread-very-fast-correctional-staff-warn-they-wont-be-able-to-stop-covid-19-if-it-gets-into-ontario-jails.html> due to the large numbers of people detained or working in those facilities, existing unsanitary conditions, close quarters, regular physical contact between guards and detainees, and the underlying chronic health conditions of many detained people.

        I.Take immediate action to reduce the number of people in prison, jails, and detention centers.
·         Stop arresting people for all non-violent crimes.
·         Release all immigrants and refugees from local jails and immigration detention centers. Do not conduct immigration enforcement operations, especially in or around emergency shelters, hospitals, or medical clinics.
·         Release anyone in jail who is not being preventively detained on a detention order for posing a danger to the community. This should include those waiting on sureties, those awaiting probation violation hearings, or parole revocation proceedings.
·         Release from prison and jails individuals who are particularly vulnerable - including people who are over 60, pregnant, and/or immunocompromised.
·         Release all youth to the care of family and community.

II.        Take immediate action to protect those who remain imprisoned.
·         Ensure that those who are arrested are held in locations where they do not have to share toilets, soap, utensils, or bedding. Provide soap, hand sanitizer, and cleaning supplies to every person at no cost. Solitary confinement should not be relied on for health and safety.
·         Increase access to fresh air spaces with safe social distancing for anyone who is detained.
·         In the absence of visitations, all phone calls and other forms of contact should be free.
·         Provide protective gear to all facility personnel and regular testing of all those incarcerated and those working in the facilities. Ensure medical programs are fully staffed and trained.

III.        Take immediate actions for the health of the working poor & criminalized:
·         Make COVID-19 testing and treatment free and available to all.
·         Legislate two weeks of paid sick days for all workers and provide emergency financial support.
·         Impose an immediate moratorium on eviction proceedings and foreclosure proceedings.
·         Immediately end fare enforcement on public transit.
·         Impose an immediate moratorium on utility shut-offs of any kind and restore shut-off utilities.
·         Cease the criminalization of addiction and provide for safe injection sites.

IV.        Take immediate actions for the health of the region’s unhoused population:
·         Provide locations for unhoused people to self-quarantine in individualized spaces.
·         Provide emergency shelters that can remain open 24 hours a day with 3 meals a day. Provide 24 hour access to soap, hand sanitizer, water, showers, and restrooms.

We call on our local, provincial, and federal officials to publicize protocols and take the preceding immediate actions for our collective health.



Abtin Parnia
Research and Policy Analyst
Dalla Lana School of Public Health | University of Toronto
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www.dlsph.utoronto.ca<http://www.dlsph.utoronto.ca>

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