In an effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, most governments have imposed restrictions on freedom of movement, association, assembly and other civic freedoms in the interest of public health. Many countries have done so by declaring states of emergency and formally derogating from their international human rights treaty obligations. Derogations in international law authorize states to temporarily escape some of their international treaty commitments during times of crisis. By acknowledging a state of public emergency and formally derogating, governments acknowledge that these measures are temporary, necessary and proportional to the interest at sake, with an aim to restore normalcy as soon as possible. In many cases, emergency measures have been temporary and respect for human rights has returned to normal. In many other instances, however, governments have used these restrictions to suppress opposition and more permanently restrict space available to civil society.
Systematically measuring the consequences of COVID restrictions, however, is a difficult task. We first begin with the descriptive question – during the pandemic, how many countries have formally derogated from their human rights treaty obligations? How does the nature of emergency measures implemented across this time period differ across countries? In answering the above questions, we begin by focusing on derogations from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as well as violations of this treaty. We then aim to use our rich data-based descriptions of the relationship between pandemic restrictions and civic space to examine whether those emergency measures lead to lasting declines in associational and human rights.
We answer the above questions through the collection of original data on derogations during the pandemic. While many countries sign international human rights treaties that ostensibly bind states to respect rights, several treaties allow for emergency derogations from these obligations. We will tabulate formal human rights treaty derogations due to the pandemic, the time period of these measures, and the nature of measures implemented. We will then use the Variety of Democracy project's newly released Pandemic Violations of Democratic Standards Index to explore if and how civil society restrictions predict democratic backsliding. Our project will ultimately help assess whether the pandemic contributed to the trend in democratic backsliding and led to more permanent restrictions in freedoms available to civil society and NGOs.