ECNL with ICNL have been monitoring the developments regarding the emergency measures since the beginning of the pandemic. Our COVID-19 tracker maps the government responses to the coronavirus pandemic and their impact on civic space around the world.
Our new paper now explores how states have introduced new security-related legislations or used existing measures to further restrict civic freedoms and human rights under the cover of fighting the pandemic. Our broader overview of the restrictive measures adopted by states, contributes to the analysis of the intersection between securitisation and civic freedoms. Moreover, this paper aims to support civil society organizations to raise concerns about an oversecuritized response to the pandemic and the risk of authoritarian drift in democratic states that are moving away from the rule of law. The ultimate purpose is to work towards providing recommendations for a greater protection of fundamental and civic freedoms while combating the Covid-19 pandemic.
Key takeaways:
- The rhetoric and actions around the pandemic aimed to: construct a war-like rhetoric of the pandemic being the new enemy, campaign against rights like privacy and turn it into a new form of terrorist threat, the "corona terrorism";
- Security measures have different manifestations, such as excessive emergency and security laws, harsh punishments and excessive use of force and police brutality, security measures restricting freedom of expression and repurposing surveillance apparatus for public health responses;
- Discussions at multilateral fora focus solely on security and counter-terrorism measures and not at the misuse of coronavirus to suppress rights and freedoms;
- Our proposed recommendations include to continue monitoring, coordinating and raising public awareness, to advocate for meaningful engagement, to counter security narratives, and to conduct strategic litigation and interventions at global, regional, and national level.