International human rights and COVID-19

Abstract

Epidemics have always left a trace on human history. The international community has been experiencing this reality in the current Covid-19 crisis. Although the experience has varied significantly from one country to another at different times, the outbreak of Covid-19 has an unprecedented impact on people’s lives and livelihoods around the world. The Covid-19 crisis has also turned into a defining moment for human rights, since countries have introduced emergency laws that entail the suspension or derogation of some civil and political rights as a result of emergency measures. The epidemic itself as well as the measures enacted to contain it have given rise to numerous challenges to human rights and human rights law globally. The protection and promotion of human rights thus become more difficult during states of emergency. So how should countries balance the tension between individual human rights and the need to protect public health? There is no straightforward answer, but future threats to human rights could be averted by learning from the responses to the COVID-19 crisis. The current paper first briefly outlines the conditions for a valid restriction on human rights during a state of emergency, as well as gauging the impact of COVID-19 on human rights. It then examines the major human right regimes and discusses how their implementation might function during the current pandemic. Given that the purpose of the study is to assess the existing bodies protecting human rights and their possible capacity to deal with human rights violations during the pandemic, the present study limits itself to indicating their relevant salient features in addition to a generic overview.