Covid 19: Human Rights and State Responsibility

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Yeshwant Naik
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Health States ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Lethal Force ◽  
Gender Specific

Human rights dimensions of the Covid-19 response escalate the obligations of governments. Since the time Covid was first identified in December 2020 in Wuhan, China, Human Rights Watch has reported several human rights abuses including the authoritarian responses in some countries.  Many governments are expanding public health measures by abandoning universal human rights. People are arrested for violating lockdown measures and curfews. Police and/or security forces are using violence, including lethal force, to enforce public health measures such as curfews and the wearing of masks. Lockdowns have imposed restrictions on individual movement by restraining them from leaving their place of residence. Some countries have imposed partial lockdowns. While restrictions on freedom of movement are necessary in the interest of protecting public health, states still are accountable to ensure that such restrictions are proportionate, evidence-based, and time-limited.  There were grievances and inequalities across countries, some of which were based on racist, gender-specific or other discrimination. There is also increased oppression of those who think differently. The pandemic exposes the failures in the context of political action and cooperation. The article makes recommendations on how governments can confront the pandemic while respecting basic human rights.

Collective Action and Constraints on Repression at the Endgame

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 1042-1073 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiberiu Dragu ◽  
Yonatan Lupu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Simple Game ◽  
Coordination Game ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Game Theoretic Model

How can human rights abuses be prevented or reduced? Using a simple game-theoretic model, we demonstrate that repression can become a coordination game when the potential for abuses is greatest: when dissent against a regime has grown sufficiently powerful. In such scenarios, repression depends on how the leader’s agents coordinate on implementing a repression order. If and to the extent agents believe other agents will not comply with an order to repress, leaders can expect agents to disobey orders and will be less likely to order repression. This logic of expectations constitutes a third mechanism for constraining repression, in addition to sanctioning (i.e., the logic of consequences) and normative mechanisms (i.e., the logic of appropriateness). We formally explore how the logic of expectations can constrain the implementation of repression and also show that the logic of expectations has the greatest potential to constrain repression in middle regimes or “anocracies.” In turn, this has broader implications for the strategies human rights advocates use in such regimes, how leaders structure their security forces, and for the study of why legal rules might be especially effective in such regimes.

Between Emotion and Calculation

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (136) ◽  
pp. 129-141
Author(s):  
Ximena Espeche
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The World

Abstract Operation Truth (Operación Verdad) was the Cuban Revolution’s first major intervention in the global mass media. In late January 1959, the revolutionary government invited journalists and politicians from around the world to witness the trials and executions of individuals accused of committing human rights abuses during the Fulgencio Batista dictatorship. This essay argues that Operation Truth prompted a battle of information waged to define the legitimacy of emotion and calculation as a way of supporting political action in Cuba. Operation Truth coverage judged the revolutionary leaders’ suitability as governing officials by characterizing them as bearers of a “true masculinity,” and positively or negatively judging their “Latin” identity.

Prospects for US politics in 2021

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
At Home

Significance At home, his administration will focus on economic revival and reform, and on COVID-19 public health measures. In foreign affairs, Biden’s team will focus on rebuilding US alliances and cooperation, while promoting human rights and climate action.

Human Rights at the Time of Transition: How Security Forces Can be Held Accountable in a Divided Community?

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-207
Author(s):  
Mutaz M Qafisheh
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Field Research ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Government

Abstract The Palestinian Authority has established various mechanisms to monitor its security forces and hold them accountable over human rights violations. This article explores and assesses the accountability measures that deal with the human rights abuses arising from the excessive use of force in light of international standards, particularly human rights treaties that Palestine has acceded to in recent years. The use of force may occur in different contexts, including during demonstrations, while enforcing the law against criminal acts, searches, lawlessness, in detention, interrogation, investigation and in prisons. The article traces the accountability processes that arise in such circumstances. Alongside reviewing domestic legislation and cases as well as citing relevant literature, the article employs empirical qualitative field research approach by conducting a series of interviews with senior security officials, particularly top commanders and those in charge of accountability within the government and security agencies along with NGOs, experts, academics and field-based international institutions.

scholarly journals A Human Right Approach of Right to Health During Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 176-179
Author(s):  
Dr. Prakruthi A R
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Effective Response ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
The Right

The right to live isn’t the absence of death; it’s living a life with good health and human dignity.’ Human rights are fundamentally linked to global health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Human rights law guarantees everyone the right to the highest attainable standard of health and obligates governments to take steps to prevent threats to public health and to provide medical care to those who need it. The language and principles of human rights relate to the rights that support the survival and basic wellbeing of communities and individuals, including their rights to life, health and an adequate standard of living. Human rights law also recognizes that in the context of serious public health threats and public emergencies threatening the life of the Nation, restrictions on some rights can be justified when they have a legal basis, are strictly necessary, based on scientific evidence and neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in application, of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, subject to review, and proportionate to achieve the objective. The scale and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic clearly rises to the level of a public health threat that could justify restrictions on certain rights, such as those that result from the imposition of quarantine or isolation limiting freedom of movement. At the same time, careful attention to human rights such as non-discrimination and human rights principles such as transparency and respect for human dignity can foster an effective response amidst the turmoil and disruption that inevitably results in times of crisis and limit the harms that can come from the imposition of overly broad measures that do not meet the criteria.

Haiti’s police will struggle without UN troops

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Criminal Investigations ◽  
Local Police ◽  
Criminal Groups ◽  
Funding Cuts

Subject Security in Haiti. Significance Latin American delegates at the UN General Assembly’s Fifth Committee warned on December 18 against funding cuts to the UN Mission for Justice Support in Haiti (MINUJUSTH). Peacekeeping troops withdrew from Haiti in mid-October and were replaced with a smaller force involved only in training and supporting local police. Haiti’s security forces appear to be struggling with their new responsibilities. The police have already been accused of human rights abuses, and several officers have been killed in raids on criminal groups. Impacts The withdrawal of UN troops is leaving the domestic police ill experienced in conducting criminal investigations. A new expansion in the size or scope of UN operations is unlikely, even if the Haitian police prove incapable. Lacking transparency in financing and recruitment suggests the army’s expansion will be slower than intended.

COVID-19 will embolden autocrats

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

Subject Democracy and COVID-19 Significance A growing number of leaders are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to curtail the activities of opposition parties and to expand their powers. In some cases, such as Malawi, unpopular presidents are using a declaration of emergency to prohibit opposition rallies and protests. In others, such as Hungary, emergency laws have been introduced that effectively undermine democratic checks and balances. The need for lockdown and quarantine to contain the virus has also led to a militarisation of the healthcare response -- with significant human rights abuses already reported in Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. Impacts Further power grabs are likely as the crisis's impact is increasingly felt in Sub-Saharan Africa. Human rights violations will increase as stretched security forces enforce lockdowns on populations that have limited trust in government. The quality of democracy in many parts of the world will continue to decline.

scholarly journals Is There a Case for Quarantine? Perspectives from SARS to Ebola

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna Barbisch ◽  
Kristi L Koenig ◽  
Fuh-Yuan Shih
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Civil Liberties ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Care Worker

AbstractQuarantine has been used for centuries in an effort to prevent the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases. While backed by legal authority, the public and even the health care worker community’s understanding of the term is murky at best and scientific evidence to support the use of quarantine is frequently lacking. The multiple interpretations and references to quarantine, the inconsistent application of public health quarantine laws across jurisdictional boundaries, and reports of ineffectiveness are further complicated by associated infringement of civil liberties and human rights abuses. Given the need to balance public safety with human rights, we must be more precise about the meaning of quarantine and consider the efficacy and negative secondary effects resulting from its implementation. This article explains quarantine terminology and then uses a case study from Taiwan during the 2002–2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak to illustrate the key principles associated with quarantine measures taken during the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the potential hazards that can arise from quarantines. Finally, we provide a quarantine and isolation decision tree to assist policy makers and public health officials in applying medically defensible, outcomes-based data and legal authorities to optimize management of emerging infectious diseases. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2015;9:547–553)

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