TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) demanded President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo to enforce a quarantine of limited areas in a an attempt to prevent the widespread of coronavirus infection, especially the red-zone areas.

"[We urge] a regional quarantine that is limited to areas that have been categorized as a red-zone as an effort to prevent the spread of the virus," Komnas HAM Commissioner Amiruddin said in a written statement on Friday, March 27, 2020.

Amir asserted that the quarantine is necessary to optimize the health services to positive Covid-19 patients, given the significant hike in the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases since the first cases were announced on March 2, 2020.

As of Friday, March 27, 2020, the national spokesman for the Covid-19 outbreak handling Achmad Yurianto said that the total number of Covid-19 cases had reached 1,047, with 87 people dead and 46 people recovered.

Amir elaborated that no human rights principle was violated in a regional quarantine, mentioning the Siracusa Principles on the Limitation and Derogation of Provisions in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"Public health may be invoked as a ground for limiting certain rights," Amir remarked.

During the quarantine period, if it is enforced, Komnas HAM urged the government to ensure the people's basic needs and livestock feeds, as well as basic rights of the elderly, people with disabilities, and pregnant women.

M ROSSENO AJI