Stranded Australians take to the Human Rights Committee: Winning before losing?
By Kris van der Pas
Source: Pexels, photo by Catarina Sousa
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions have become a normality rather than exceptional. Due to these travel restrictions, many people have been unable to return home. A strict travel regime has been adhered to by Australia, as ‘flight caps’ have been introduced. Since the start of the pandemic, 500.000 Australians abroad have returned home. Nevertheless, over 34.000 people are still outside the country and unable to return. Several blogs have already addressed the problematic aspects when it comes to COVID-19 measures and human rights in general (see for example here and here), but a few Australians have now actually lodged a complaint about these Australian flight caps with the UN Human Rights Committee (hereafter: HRC). More...
The right to protest in the COVID-19 era: The case of Greece
By Evangelia Romanou
The outbreak of the pandemic has certainly turned our daily lives upside down and we have witnessed a great number of our freedoms and fundamental rights being limited or even banned. Among the rights that have had serious and, in some cases, unjustifiable restrictions, is the right to protest, which consists of the right to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. This article aims to examine the proportionality of the measures adopted by the Greek Government for the protection of public health, associated to the right to protest. More...
'On the brink of a catastrophic moral failure' - not the time to abandon international law
by David Patterson
source: by focusonmore.com via ccsearch
In January 2021 the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, delivered a blunt message at the opening of the 148th session of the WHO Executive Board: ‘The world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure – and the price of this failure will be paid with the lives and livelihoods of the world’s poorest countries.’ Dr Tedros was referring to the rich countries’ decision to prioritize COVID-19 vaccine access for their own younger, healthier adults over health workers and older people in poorer countries. He further stated, ‘Vaccine equity is not just a moral imperative, it is a strategic and economic imperative.’ These points are well-taken – a world divided between the COVID-19 vaccine ‘haves and have-nots’ will likely be less safe and less economically secure and productive. More...
Source: Étienne Godiard via Unsplash
Interview with Majorie Kaandorp, UNICEF Netherlands on the occasion of
World Children's Day 2020
By Janna Beijers & Stephanie Rap
Can you explain what you do at UNICEF NL? What is your central focus/passion in your work?
Currently, I am the manager of a team that focuses on a number of themes concerning children's rights in the Netherlands. This includes the mental well-being of teenagers, the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Netherlands, i.e. NGO reporting to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and on migration and refugees. We also look at the impact of the corona crisis on children. Education and participation specialists who create educational material on children’s rights and organise participation projects are also part of the team.
In May this year UNICEF published a report about the impact of the Covid-19 crisis in the Netherlands. What were the most important impacts you found?
We drafted this report in cooperation with Leiden University. Within this report we looked at several critical points that were influenced by Covid-19: poverty, violence, education, migration, mental health, youth care, youth criminal law, and the situation on the Dutch Caribbean islands.
More...
Source: Pixabay
Manvi Khanna
National Law University Odisha, Cuttack
https://www.linkedin.com/in/manvi-khanna-6a960815b/
In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the surge in cases of gender-based violence globally is another shadow pandemic and public health emergency that requires intervention by governments across the world. Nationwide lockdowns imposed as a containment measure have forced people to stay indoors for their safety as well as that of others. Unfortunately, homes are not the safest places for victims of domestic violence. Every third woman in the world has been physically abused by her spouse/partner. As per the recent statistics, during the 68 day period of lockdown (25 March 2020 to 31 May 2020) in India, 1477 complaints were made to the National Commission for Women, which is the highest number of complaints recorded during the similar time period in the last ten years, keeping in mind the fact that around 77% of the cases in the country go unreported.
More...
Source: iXimus - Pixabay
Ritwik Prakash Srivastava
National Law Institute University, Bhopal, India
ritwiksrivastava.ug@nliu.ac.in
In the wake of COVID-19, the Indian government launched and mandated the use of a contact-tracing application, Aarogya Setu (smart phone application). The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation on 14 April 2020, urged the citizens to download the application to supplement the State’s struggle against the contagion. What started as a voluntary step, was first made mandatory for employees of the public and even the private sector, and then for entire districts. Failure to do so gives rise to a criminal penalty.
More...