COVID-19 and Human Rights PDF
Preview COVID-19 and Human Rights
‘This impressive book is indispensable for anyone who wants to understand the COVID-1 9 crisis from a human rights perspective. Through a comprehensive exploration of the impact of the coronavirus on diverse issues, the authors demon- strate why human rights are indeed an essential compass to guide our reactions and our policy to this unprecedented crisis.’ Kathryn Sikkink, Harvard University, USA ‘The COVID- 19 pandemic constitutes one of the major contemporary human rights challenges to governments and the international community. The current volume provides compelling insights to how we will be better prepared for similar challenges in the future. Governments had to take far-r eaching measures which drastically restricted the rights to personal liberty, to work, to freedom of movement, privacy, property, the right to education, and freedom of assembly. In addition, governments had to protect the most vulnerable groups and ensure that the pan- demic did not increase existing social and economic inequalities. After one year of trial and error, we need to admit that neither governments nor the international human rights community were prepared. This book offers ideas and inspiration for how to reach a scientifically sound and balanced human rights- based approach.’ Manfred Nowak, Vienna University and Secretary General of the Global Campus of Human Rights, Austria ‘The COVID-1 9 pandemic has provoked unprecedented restrictions to human rights even in democratic regimes and highlighted the obstacles to international cooperation. But it also underscored the crucial importance of protecting the right to health and other social rights to preserve human life and dignity as well as functioning economies and states. This timely book illuminates how pandemics can be fought from a human rights- based approach and what can be done to seize this opportunity to adopt transformative policies to overcome structural inequalities.’ Manuel José Cepeda Espinosa, Former President of the Constitutional Court of Colombia ‘Amid a flood of scholarly work on the human rights dimensions of the pandemic, this book stands out. Although written as events continue to unfold, the volume is remarkable for the penetrating analyses by leading scholars, which both cover an array of human rights issues, and raise critical, enduring questions regarding gaps not just in compliance but also in normative frameworks. While illuminating the sweeping devastation and upending of progress that the pandemic has wrought, the volume also offers hope that human rights frameworks can and must play a central role in transforming our social and international orders in light of the stark truths this crisis has laid bare.’ Alicia Ely Yamin, Petrie-Flom Center, Harvard Law School, USA COVID- 19 AND HUMAN RIGHTS This timely collection brings together original explorations of the COVID-1 9 pandemic and its wide- ranging, global effects on human rights. The contributors argue that a human rights perspective is necessary to understand the pervasive consequences of the crisis, while focusing attention on those being left behind and providing a necessary framework for the effort to ‘build back better’. Expert contributors to this volume address interconnections between the COVID-1 9 crisis and the human rights to equality and non-d iscrimination, including historical responses to pandemics, populism and authoritarianism, and the rights to health, information, water and the environment. Highlighting the dangerous potential for derogations from human rights, authors further scrutinize the human rights compliance of new legislation and policies in relation to issues such as privacy, the rights of persons with disabilities, freedom of expression, and access to medicines. Acknowledging the pandemic as a defining moment for human rights, the volume proposes a post- crisis human rights agenda to engage civil society and government at all levels in concrete measures to roll back increasing inequality. With rich examples, new thinking, and provocative analyses of human rights, COVID-1 9, pandemics, crises, and inequality, this book will be of key interest to scholars, students, and practitioners in all areas of human rights, global governance, and public health, as well as others who are ready to embark on an exploration of these complex challenges. Morten Kjaerum is Director of Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund, Sweden and Adjunct Professor at the University of Aalborg, Denmark. Martha F. Davis is University Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, USA. Amanda Lyons is Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota Law School, USA. ROUTLEDGE STUDIES IN HUMAN RIGHTS The Routledge Studies in Human Rights series publishes high quality and cross- disciplinary scholarship on topics of key importance in human rights today. In a world where human rights are both celebrated and contested, this series is committed to create stronger links between disciplines and explore new methodo- logical and theoretical approaches in human rights research. Aimed towards both scholars and human rights professionals, the series strives to provide both critical analysis and policy- oriented research in an accessible form. The series welcomes work on specific human rights issues as well as on cross- cutting themes and insti- tutional perspectives. Series Editors: Mark Gibney, UNC Asheville, USA, Thomas Gammeltoft- Hansen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Bonny Ibhawoh, McMaster University, Canada. Why Human Rights Still Matter in Contemporary World Affairs Edited by Mahmood Monshipouri Actualizing Human Rights Global Inequality, Future People, and Motivation Jos Philips Protecting Human Rights Defenders at Risk Edited by Alice M. Nah COVID- 19 and Human Rights Edited by Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons COVID- 19 AND HUMAN RIGHTS Edited by Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons First published 2021 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Kjaerum, Morten, editor. Title: COVID-19 and human rights / edited by Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons. Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. | Series: Routledge studies in human rights | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021003628 (print) | LCCN 2021003629 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367688059 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367688035 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003139140 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: COVID-19 (Disease)–Political aspects. Classification: LCC RA644.C67 C68317 2021 (print) | LCC RA644.C67 (ebook) | DDC 362.1962/414–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003628 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021003629 ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 68805- 9 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 68803- 5 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 13914- 0 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Newgen Publishing UK This book is dedicated to the courageous people on all continents working on the frontlines to stem the impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic, some of whom paid the ultimate price. CONTENTS List of contributors xii Foreword by Olivier de Schutter xvii Preface by Morten Kjaerum, Martha F. Davis, and Amanda Lyons xxiii PART 1 Human rights during health crises 1 1 ‘Human rights against human arbitrariness’: pandemics in a human rights historical perspective 3 Steven L. B. Jensen 2 Human rights- based versus populist responses to the pandemic 19 Martin Scheinin and Helga Molbæk- Steensig 3 Human rights in times of pandemics: necessity and proportionality 35 Katharina Ó Cathaoir 4 COVID- 19 risk communication: the right to information and participation 52 Tove H. Malloy
The list of books you might like
