IJRC News Room
///////////////////////////////////////////
Human Rights Bodies Respond to Coronavirus, Some Suspend Scheduled Sessions
Posted: 04 Mar 2020 01:15 AM PST
[link removed]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres attends COVID-19 briefing
Credit: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
Various supranational human rights bodies have cancelled or limited
meetings in response to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) assessment of
the global risk posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the increasing
number of travel restrictions imposed by national governments. [NGO CSW;
HRC Bureau Meeting; WHO Press Release: Feb 28] Civil society’s
participation has been hardest hit, most notably by the decisions to reduce
the 64th session of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) from two weeks
to one day, and to cancel all side events at the United Nations Human
Rights Council’s ongoing session. [NGO CSW; France24; VOA] Some human
rights monitoring bodies and civil society organizations have also reminded
States of their human rights obligations in the context of preventing the
spread of coronavirus. [ACHPR Press Release; OHCHR Press Release; Amnesty
International] On its webpage, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, for one, encouraged participants in its March session to
use videoconferencing to participate remotely. The human rights bodies’
decisions to cancel or modify meetings come after a February 28 letter from
the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres.
CSW 64 Changes
The UN Secretary General sent a letter to the CSW Chair on February 28,
2020, emphasizing the need to consider the implications of the coronavirus
“for all forthcoming intergovernmental meetings” and suggesting that the
CSW hold a “scaled-down, shortened session” or postpone the session to a
later date. The UN Secretary General considered the “increasing number” of
travel restrictions as well as “the need to balance the continuation of
essential activities with the protection of public health,” and recommended
that the Commission “shorten and scale down the session.”
Following the UN Secretary General’s letter, the CSW decided to suspend its
64th session, which was scheduled for March 9 to 20, 2020, “until further
notification.” See UN Women, CSW 64 Advisory. The Commission will only hold
a procedural meeting on March 9, 2020 that will include opening statements,
the adoption of a draft Political Declaration, and the adoption of draft
resolutions. See id. The Commission has cancelled the general debate and
all side events organized by Member States or the UN as part of the 64th
Session. See id. The long-awaited 64th session marks the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, and was
planned to include discussion of the progress and remaining obstacles in
the realization of gender equality. See UN Women, CSW64 / Beijing+25 (2020).
The NGO CSW Forum, which consists of a series of parallel events organized
by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women during UN CSW sessions, has
also been cancelled. See NGO CSW/NY, NGO CSW64 Forum Cancellation Notice.
Specifically, the parallel events that have been cancelled are the
Consultation Day, Reception, Conversation Circles Space, Artisan Fair,
Rally, advocacy trainings, caucuses, and all 550 parallel events scheduled
through the NGO CSW/NY office. See id.
Human Rights Council Changes
Moreover, on March 2, the Human Rights Council Bureau held a meeting to
discuss how to proceed with the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council,
which began on February 24 and is scheduled to conclude on March 20, 2020,
in light of coronavirus developments. [HRC Bureau Meeting] Taking into
account the UN Secretary General’s letter to the Chair of the CSW and a
separate letter by the UN Office at Geneva Director General, the Human
Rights Council Bureau decided to cancel all of the side events scheduled
for the 43rd Session, encouraged all representatives not to travel to
Geneva for the remainder of the session, and suggested that all UN special
procedures who are not currently in Geneva participate in the session via
video conference. [HRC Bureau Meeting] For now, the rest of the conferences
and meetings have not been postponed given the “significant challenges”
that cancelling or postponing those meetings would pose.
States’ Human Rights Obligations
On February 28, 2020, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
(ACHPR) became the first supranational human rights body to issue a
statement directed at States in response to the coronavirus. [ACHPR Press
Release] The ACHPR specifically called on governments to uphold their
obligations under articles 1 (State obligations), 4 (right to life), 9
(right to receive information and free expression), and 16 (right to
health) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The Commission
urged Sates to implement “human rights-based preventive measures,” allocate
the resources necessary to adequately respond, follow WHO guidelines, and
provide accurate and timely information about the virus. The ACHPR also
called on States to treat all infected persons “humanely and with dignity”
and ensure that any “restrictions imposed on public health grounds are
lawful, respect human and peoples’ rights, are necessary and proportional.”
[ACHPR Press Release] As of March 2, the ACHPR is the only regional human
rights body to address State obligations with respect to the coronavirus.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, used the
opportunity of addressing the Human Rights Council to call out “a
disturbing wave of prejudice against people of Chinese and East Asian
ethnicity” in response to coronavirus and to urge States to address this
discrimination. [OHCHR] She also asked States to act without
discrimination, with transparency, and with respect for the human rights to
freedom of movement, food and clean water, humane treatment, access to
health care, access to information, and freedom of expression in their
coronavirus responses.
Coronavirus
To date, the novel coronavirus – initially identified in Wuhan, China in
December 2019 – has spread to 61 countries, with 127 reported deaths. [WHO
Press Release: March 2] Despite WHO advice against travel restrictions,
including quarantines, visa restrictions, or entry denials, many countries
have imposed restrictions that some argue are discriminatory and may result
in “criminalization-oriented public health measures.” [IPS; IntLawGrrls]
While the coronavirus has had a significant reach, the WHO considers the
virus an epidemic that is currently affecting only a handful of countries
(Korea, Italy, Iran, and Japan) and that is still feasible to contain, not
yet a pandemic. [WHO Press Release: March 2] To address its impact, the UN
has allocated $15 million from its Central Emergency Fund to advance
efforts aimed at containing the virus. [UN News] The money from the UN will
go to the WHO and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to investigate cases,
monitor the spread of the virus, and operate national labs. [UN News] In
total, the WHO estimates that it needs $675 million to fight the
coronavirus. [UN News]
Additional Information
For more information on the United Nations human rights mechanisms, the
right to life or economic, social and cultural rights, visit IJRC’s Online
Resource Hub. To stay up-to-date on international human rights law news,
visit IJRC’s News Room or subscribe to the IJRC Daily.
--
You are subscribed to email updates from "IJRC News Room."
To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now:
[link removed]
Email delivery powered by Google.
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States
