GENEVA (16 March 2020) \u2013 UN human rights experts* today urged States to avoid overreach of security measures in their response to the coronavirus outbreak and reminded them that emergency powers should not be used to quash dissent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we recognize the severity of the current health crisis and acknowledge that the use of emergency powers is allowed by international law in response to significant threats, we urgently remind States that any emergency responses to the coronavirus must be proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory,\u201d the experts said.<\/p>\n
Their appeal echoes the recent\u00a0call by the UN High Commissioner\u00a0for Human Rights to put\u00a0#HumanRights\u00a0at the centre of\u00a0#CoronavirusOutbreak\u00a0response.<\/p>\n
Declarations of states of emergency, whether for health or security reasons, have clear guidance from international law, the UN experts said. \u201cThe use of emergency powers must be publicly declared and should be notified to the relevant treaty bodies when fundamental rights including movement, family life and assembly are being significantly limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, emergency declarations based on the Covid-19 outbreak should not be used as a basis to target particular groups, minorities, or individuals. It should not function as a cover for repressive action under the guise of protecting health nor should it be used to silence the work of human rights defenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cRestrictions taken to respond to the virus must be motivated by legitimate public health goals and should not be used simply to quash dissent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some States and security institutions may find the use of emergency powers attractive because it offers shortcuts, the experts said. \u201cTo prevent such excessive powers to become hardwired into legal and political systems, restrictions should be narrowly tailored and should be the least intrusive means to protect public health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, in countries where the virus is waning, authorities must seek to return life to normal and must avoid excessive use of emergency powers to indefinitely regulate day-to-day life, they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe encourage States to remain steadfast in maintaining a human rights-based approach to regulating this pandemic, in order to facilitate the emergence of healthy societies with rule of law and human rights protections,\u201d the UN experts said.<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
* The UN experts:\u00a0The\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Ms Fionnuala D. N\u00ed Aol\u00e1in; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,\u00a0Ms Agnes Callamard; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression,\u00a0Mr David Kaye; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders,\u00a0Mr Michel Forst; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association,\u00a0Mr Cl\u00e9ment Nyaletsossi Voule;,\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to physical and mental health,Mr. Dainius P\u016bras,\u00a0the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to education,\u00a0Ms Koumbou Boly Barry; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy,\u00a0Mr Joe Cannataci;\u00a0the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief,\u00a0Mr. Ahmed Shaheed; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the right to development,\u00a0Mr Saad Alfarargi; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on adequate housing,\u00a0Ms Leilani Farha; the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation,\u00a0Mr L\u00e9o Heller; the\u00a0Independent expert on human rights and international solidarity,\u00a0Mr Obiora C. Okafor; the\u00a0Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order,\u00a0Mr Livingstone Sewanyana\u00a0the\u00a0Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, Mr Diego Garc\u00eda-Say\u00e1n;\u00a0the Working Group on\u00a0Arbitrary Detention:\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Jos\u00e9 Antonio Guevara Berm\u00fadez\u00a0(Chair),\u00a0Ms. Leigh Toomey\u00a0(Vice-Chair on Communications),\u00a0Ms. Elina Steinerte\u00a0(Vice-Chair on Follow-up),\u00a0Mr. Seong-Phil Hong\u00a0and\u00a0Mr. S\u00e8tondji Adjovi; andthe\u00a0Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances:\u00a0Mr Luciano Hazan\u00a0(Chair-Rapporteur),\u00a0Mr Tae-Ung Baik\u00a0(Vice-Chair),\u00a0Ms Houria Es-Slami,\u00a0\u00a0Mr Bernard Duhaime\u00a0and\u00a0Mr Henrikas Mickevicius.<\/p>\n <\/em>The Special Rapporteurs and Independent Experts are part of what is known as the\u00a0Special Procedures\u00a0of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council\u2019s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Moreover, emergency declarations based on the Covid-19 outbreak should not be used as a basis to target particular groups, minorities, or individuals…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tstyn_error":""},"categories":[66056,66058,66030],"tags":[77573,77783,77944,77945],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299898\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epress.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}