Posted on 04/26/2020 5:38:07 AM PDT by TheConservativeBanker
GENEVA (16 March 2020) – UN human rights experts* today urged States to avoid overreach of security measures in their response to the coronavirus outbreak and reminded them that emergency powers should not be used to quash dissent.
“While we recognize the severity of the current health crisis and acknowledge that the use of emergency powers is allowed by international law in response to significant threats, we urgently remind States that any emergency responses to the coronavirus must be proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory,” the experts said.
Their appeal echoes the recent call by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to put #HumanRights at the centre of #CoronavirusOutbreak response.
Declarations of states of emergency, whether for health or security reasons, have clear guidance from international law, the UN experts said. “The use of emergency powers must be publicly declared and should be notified to the relevant treaty bodies when fundamental rights including movement, family life and assembly are being significantly limited.”
“Moreover, emergency declarations based on the Covid-19 outbreak should not be used as a basis to target particular groups, minorities, or individuals. It should not function as a cover for repressive action under the guise of protecting health nor should it be used to silence the work of human rights defenders.
“Restrictions taken to respond to the virus must be motivated by legitimate public health goals and should not be used simply to quash dissent.”
Some States and security institutions may find the use of emergency powers attractive because it offers shortcuts, the experts said. “To prevent such excessive powers to become hardwired into legal and political systems, restrictions should be narrowly tailored and should be the least intrusive means to protect public health.”
Finally, in countries where the virus is waning, authorities must seek to return life to normal and must avoid excessive use of emergency powers to indefinitely regulate day-to-day life, they said.
“We encourage States to remain steadfast in maintaining a human rights-based approach to regulating this pandemic, in order to facilitate the emergence of healthy societies with rule of law and human rights protections,” the UN experts said.
ENDS
“While we recognize the severity of the current health crisis and acknowledge that the use of emergency powers is allowed by international law in response to significant threats, we urgently remind States that any emergency responses to the coronavirus must be proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory,” the experts said.
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You mean like allowing abortionists to remain open, but dentists and doctors offices to remain closed? Or State owned marijuana shops to remain open, but barber shops must be closed.
How about some humanization like a person's name?
Wow... the UN showing more concern about human rights than we usually expect from the US? That’s a sea change.
I am appalled at the number of liberal politicians who are jumping on this chance to impose autocratic dictatorships and permanent restrictions on our freedoms. I’d have something to say about the people who vote them into office, but with the rampant and well-oiled vote fraud machine the left has assembled, it is impossible to know how many of those would-be dictators were actually elected into office.
It is a commission official statement. No author listed. You could follow the link address to find that out.
The UN realizes facism does not bode well for Democrat governors in the 2020 US. elections.
We haven’t been the land of the free since the govt changed in 1865. Since that time the facist/communist have been in control. Once a govt seeks equality, fair play, things like that, it’s a socialist/communist govt. They desire a certain out come for people, thus the people are no longer in control. We are over 25 trillion in debt. No way that is not a socialist govt.
In my comment, I noted that I am not a UN worshipper and did not imply any approval of the UN Human Rights Council. In fact we know that they don’t care at all about human rights, evidenced by their inviting China to the commission. I only wanted to point out that all but a handful of US governors care less about human rights than the reprobate UN.
Shove it, UN.
Long past time for all of you too commit seppuku.
With a dull, rusty sword.
Do it.
NOW!
Exactly.
“We are over 25 trillion in debt. No way that is not a socialist govt.”
Socialism IS legal plunder - Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850 “The Law”
http://bastiat.org/en/the_law.html
(and your tagline) BUMP!
I believe “States” in this sense means sovereign states or countries.
Boy, you know it’s bad when this clown show lectures the United States on Human rights...
UN wants riots. That’s my take.
I don’t disagree. However, my point is that US governors are using emergency powers in ways that are well below UN standards. Perhaps, I should have included an irony tag to the post. Also, presuming that the US is one of the “states” addressed in the statement, it is logical that subsidiary units of the US would also be addressed.
All people who want to express their human rights during the shut down need to be kept in one area and lets see what the data shows with death rate.
I have volunteered to be in that group all along. I think I understand the numbers and risk more than many and am willing to accept the risk. I violate stay at home orders routinely and am an “essential worker”, so I am out and about.
On a different thread I offered a simple reopening plan: Freedom. Those who are afraid can stay at home, binge watch Netflix, pretend to work at home, use delivery services staffed by braver people and hope that enough people are out of their homes producing the goods and services you need to stay in your cocoon. Hope that your income and savings don’t run out, because there will not be very many more government checks. Stay at home and stay out of the way so the rest of us can start rebuilding what our ruling class has been destroying.
Never confuse afraid with caution it’s stupid to do so and often a last act.
In CO marijuana stores can remain open.
Cigar stores must close.
Dentists must provide emergency dental care. But, if they have patients show up, they are reported for performing non-essential dental work.
As I said, I understand the numbers, have doctoral level training in statistics, have been involved in biomedical modeling. Coronavirus is serious, but not dauntingly so. Compared to the 1957 -1958 H2N2 influenza pandemic - over 1 million dead globally, 116,000 dead in the US (against a population of about half of today’s US population) coronavirus is truly a minor pandemic. I lived through that pandemic. Although, I was a child, my parents did not retreat into a social distancing “safe space” and neither did others. The difference was the lack of 24 hour nonstop fear porn propaganda and braver Americans in those days.
I understand that some people are more risk averse than others and am happy to let you make your own decisions. However, when the frightened can provoke enslavement of those who are not frightened, then it has gone too far.
If you are implying that I am stupid, on what basis do you make that assertion?
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