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Corporal punishment by Indian police in India was heavily criticized in the Western press -

Why is it considered malicious for the police to enforce Covid lockdown using corporal punishments?

What better approach do they suggest for a country of 1.4 billion [mostly] uneducated and poor people?

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  • So the next question you could ask, why not just shut all the people to enforce Covid lockdown, something that was done in Philipines. But there is such thing like human rights.
    – convert
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 10:55
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    There's a lot to unpack here. Many countries prohibit police brutality and the use of beatings as a punishment. Do you want to know why? Although they don't always enforce this. Do you want to know why? India has laws against police brutality, but doesn't enforce them. Why/why not? Or are you asking how COVID regulations are enforced worldwide, e.g. in China (where there is also use of force)?
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 10:58
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    And as convert mentions, killing people is 100% effective at stopping COVID (if the bodies are disposed of properly).
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 11:01
  • In theory, police can use reasonable force to keep people inside their homes. In the United States, there were exceptions to the lockdown, and police were hesitant to enforce lockdown restrictions regardless. To answer your question, it would be malicious if police used more force than necessary, which appears to be the case.
    – Barry Carter
    Commented Jun 30, 2022 at 12:38

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There are two international conventions that handle cruel treatment. In countries that have signed and ratified these conventions, they are directly enforcable law.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Article 7

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment...

Article 10

  1. All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.

The Covenant has 173 parties and six more signatories without ratification. India has ratified it in 1979.

Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Article 1

  1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

Article 2

  1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

  2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

  3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Article 16

  1. Each State Party shall undertake to prevent in any territory under its jurisdiction other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment which do not amount to torture as defined in article I, when such acts are committed by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. In particular, the obligations contained in articles 10, 11, 12 and 13 shall apply with the substitution for references to torture of references to other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The Convention has 173 parties and four more signatories without ratification. India has signed it in 1997, but it was not ratified and thus is not in force.

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