<p>The impact of Covid-19 on various aspects of individual and social life of people has been discussed but an aspect that has not received sufficient attention is its impact on the state of democracy, the freedoms of people and human rights. A report recently released by Freedom House, an international non-profit organisation that studies and tracks democratic rights, has said that democratic and human rights have suffered setbacks in most countries after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. A number of experts who were interviewed by the organisation also thought that these conditions will worsen in the next four or five years. The report concluded that what began as a worldwide health crisis has become part of a global crisis of democracy and that governments in every part of the world have abused their powers in the name of public health, seizing the opportunity to undermine democracy and human rights.</p>.<p>According to the report, governments, both democratically elected and authoritarian dispensations, have used the pandemic as an excuse to curb citizens’ rights. Political and civil rights flow from a contract between the people and the State. But governments use calamities and emergencies to suppress or deny these rights. Very often, this is done by undermining the institutions that protect these rights, and sometimes by brazen and direct assaults on the people. The excuse generally is that extreme situations call for extreme measures and people have to make sacrifices and compromises. Elections have been disrupted, governments have become opaque and corruption has increased. There are more restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom. The report also found that ethnic, religious and other minority groups were especially targeted during this period in democratic countries also. Lockdown measures have been used in a discriminatory manner and regimes have tried to hide their failures by scapegoating minorities and marginalised groups, or by attacking critics. Immigrants’ rights have been violated across nations and internal migrants have suffered. </p>.<p>Another aspect of the assault on rights is the diminished space for protests. Demands for better governance and accountability have met with brutality from autocratic governments and wrong and inadequate responses from democratic regimes. Many democratic governments have degenerated into autocracies. However, the report notes that new protest movements and ways of protest have also arisen, which may be considered a positive sign. It has seen a steady deterioration of citizens’ freedoms and rights all over the world in the last many years, and the pandemic is now being used as a new weapon. The survey was conducted between January and September this year, and its conclusions underline the dangers posed by the pandemic not just to health and economy, but to the very fundamentals of polities. </p>
<p>The impact of Covid-19 on various aspects of individual and social life of people has been discussed but an aspect that has not received sufficient attention is its impact on the state of democracy, the freedoms of people and human rights. A report recently released by Freedom House, an international non-profit organisation that studies and tracks democratic rights, has said that democratic and human rights have suffered setbacks in most countries after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. A number of experts who were interviewed by the organisation also thought that these conditions will worsen in the next four or five years. The report concluded that what began as a worldwide health crisis has become part of a global crisis of democracy and that governments in every part of the world have abused their powers in the name of public health, seizing the opportunity to undermine democracy and human rights.</p>.<p>According to the report, governments, both democratically elected and authoritarian dispensations, have used the pandemic as an excuse to curb citizens’ rights. Political and civil rights flow from a contract between the people and the State. But governments use calamities and emergencies to suppress or deny these rights. Very often, this is done by undermining the institutions that protect these rights, and sometimes by brazen and direct assaults on the people. The excuse generally is that extreme situations call for extreme measures and people have to make sacrifices and compromises. Elections have been disrupted, governments have become opaque and corruption has increased. There are more restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom. The report also found that ethnic, religious and other minority groups were especially targeted during this period in democratic countries also. Lockdown measures have been used in a discriminatory manner and regimes have tried to hide their failures by scapegoating minorities and marginalised groups, or by attacking critics. Immigrants’ rights have been violated across nations and internal migrants have suffered. </p>.<p>Another aspect of the assault on rights is the diminished space for protests. Demands for better governance and accountability have met with brutality from autocratic governments and wrong and inadequate responses from democratic regimes. Many democratic governments have degenerated into autocracies. However, the report notes that new protest movements and ways of protest have also arisen, which may be considered a positive sign. It has seen a steady deterioration of citizens’ freedoms and rights all over the world in the last many years, and the pandemic is now being used as a new weapon. The survey was conducted between January and September this year, and its conclusions underline the dangers posed by the pandemic not just to health and economy, but to the very fundamentals of polities. </p>
