New platform to monitor Covid-19 rights abuses launched

A new platform will keep track of rights abuses under the guise of Covid-19 containment measures worldwide, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) announced on Tuesday.

The Global Monitor platform flags Covid-19 measures that the organization views as concerning.

These include measures that violate human rights or democratic benchmarks because they are considered to be disproportionate, unnecessary, illegal or indefinite. The platform is to be updated every two weeks.

Many of the 162 indexed countries are flagged for concerning measures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hungary

In the European Union, this for example includes Hungary for declaring a "state of danger" in March in response to the pandemic, which rights organizations claim gave sweeping powers to the executive branch in the country for an unlimited period.

"It has already dawned on all of us that this global emergency will almost certainly have - it is already having - profound political implications. The risks for democracy are clear and pressing," International IDEA's Secretary General Kevin Casas-Zamora said during the launch of the platform.

In a similar vein, the European Parliament warned that some countries were abusing Covid-19 measures.

Undermine democracy

"Reports of states using emergency measures to undermine democratic rules and institutions, to crack down on political opponents and human rights defenders, further undermine the rights of detainees and fuel discrimination or xenophobia against minorities or vulnerable groups are of great concern in the longer term," the chair of the parliament's subcommittee on human rights, Maria Arena, said in a press release.

"This is unacceptable," she said.