口封じされる武漢のコロナ遺族　ＷＨＯの起源調査開始目前

【武漢ＡＦＰ＝時事】中国・武漢で新型コロナウイルス感染症により亡くなった人々の遺族は27日、世界保健機関（WHO）によるウイルス起源調査の開始を目前に控え、ソーシャルメディア上のグループが削除され、口を閉ざすよう圧力を受けていると訴えた。（写真は資料写真）
　１年前に武漢を襲った同ウイルスの感染拡大をめぐっては、大勢の遺族が、当局の対応の誤りを非難しており、オンライン上で結束を固めて武漢当局に説明責任を果たすよう求めている。
　しかし遺族に対する当局からの圧力は、最近さらに強まっている。ＷＨＯによる慎重を要する調査の期間中、いかなる批判をも抑え込み、失態を回避しようとする動きとみられている。
　ＳＮＳ大手「微信（ウィーチャット）」上で遺族８０～１００人が参加するグループは１０日ほど前、突然何の説明もなく削除されたと、メンバーの一人の張海さん（５１）が明かした。
　張さんは、新型コロナウイルスによるものと疑われる症状で流行初期に父親を亡くし、これまで当局を強く非難してきた。
　当局によるグループ削除について張さんは「当局が非常に神経質になっているのが分かる。遺族がＷＨＯ調査団と接触するのが怖いのだ」と指摘した。
　今月１４日に武漢入りしたＷＨＯ調査団は２週間の隔離を経て、２８日から市内で調査を開始する予定。
　張さんは、調査団が武漢入りした際に当局が遺族のグループを強制解散させたため、「多くのメンバーとの連絡が途絶えた」と述べた。

■「弔慰金」を握らされ
　同ウイルス感染症で１年前に娘を亡くしたという別の遺族は、先週当局に呼び出され、「メディアの取材に応じたり、その他の者らに利用されたりする」ことがないよう警告を受けたとＡＦＰに明かした。
　また２６日には当局者がこの遺族の元を訪れ「同じ言葉を繰り返し、『弔慰金』だと言って５０００元（約８万円）を渡してきた」という。
　武漢在住の遺族の中には、自治体関係者らを相手取って補償と処罰を求める訴訟を起こそうとした人々もいたが、裁判所は訴えの受け入れを拒否したとされる。
　ＡＦＰは遺族やその要求に関して武漢市に何度も取材を申し入れているが、回答は得られていない。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/01/28-13:31）

Relatives of Wuhan's coronavirus dead on Wednesday said Chinese authorities have deleted their social media group and are pressuring them to keep quiet while a World Health Organization team is in the city to investigate the pandemic's origins.
Scores of relatives have banded together online in a shared quest for accountability from Wuhan officials who they blame for mishandling the outbreak that tore through the city one year ago.
The effort has thus far been thwarted by official obstruction, monitoring of social media groups and intimidation, say next-of-kin.
But pressure has escalated in recent days, apparently to muzzle any criticism and avoid embarrassment during the highly sensitive WHO investigation.
A group on social media platform WeChat used by 80 to 100 family members over the past year was suddenly deleted without explanation about 10 days ago, said Zhang Hai, a group member and a vocal critic of the outbreak's handling.
This shows that (Chinese authorities) are very nervous. They are afraid that these families will get in touch with the WHO experts, said Zhang, 51, whose father died early in the pandemic of suspected Covid-19.
The WHO experts arrived in Wuhan on January 14 and are due to emerge from a 14-day quarantine on Thursday.
When the WHO arrived in Wuhan, (authorities) forcibly demolished (the group). As a result we have lost contact with many members, Zhang added.
Other next-of-kin confirmed the group's deletion. WeChat is operated by Chinese digital giant Tencent.
Popular platforms routinely censor content deemed objectionable by the government.
- 'Same old tune' -
Relatives accuse the Wuhan and Hubei provincial governments of allowing Covid-19 to explode out of control by trying to conceal the outbreak when it first emerged in the city in December 2019, then failing to alert the public and bungling the response.
According to official Chinese figures, it killed nearly 3,900 in Wuhan, accounting for the vast majority of the 4,636 dead China has reported.
Many next-of-kin distrust those numbers, saying the scarcity of testing in the outbreak's chaotic early days meant many are likely to have died without being confirmed as having the disease.
More than two million people have died so far globally.
While China has broadly controlled the pandemic on its soil, it has frustrated independent attempts to trace its origins.
Instead, it has sought to deflect blame for the horrific worldwide human and economic toll by suggesting, without proof, that it emerged elsewhere.
A team of WHO virus experts were finally allowed into Wuhan a fortnight ago.
Their highly watched probe into the virus origins is due to start on Thursday, under tight security.
Another family member, a retiree who says her adult daughter died of the virus last January, told AFP she was summoned last week by authorities and warned not to speak to media or be used by others.
Authorities came to her door on Tuesday and sang the same old tune and gave me 5,000 yuan ($775) in a 'condolence payment', she added, requesting anonymity.
- Official obstruction -
The Communist Party government smothers anything that reflects its governance in a poor light, and the early days of the outbreak remain among the most sensitive topics in China today.
Several Wuhan relatives have tried to file lawsuits seeking compensation and punishment of officials, but say courts have refused to accept them.
The Wuhan government has repeatedly failed to reply to AFP queries regarding the families and their demands.
Zhang called on the WHO experts to bravely meet with next-of-kin, saying the investigators are likely to be misled or obstructed by Chinese authorities.
He said the families' hard-earned knowledge of how the virus played out could aid the investigation, though he acknowledges such a meeting is highly unlikely.
The virus is believed to have emerged from bats and to have initially spread from a wet market in Wuhan where wild animals were sold as food.
But little else is known.
Another theory, amplified by former US President Donald Trump, is that it leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan where researchers were studying coronaviruses.
burs-dma/apj/je