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World Report Chapter

European Union

The Covid-19 pandemic altered the lives of everyone in the European Union in 2020, with some member states more affected than others by the public health emergency and socioeconomic consequences of lockdown measures. Despite some efforts at the EU and…
A nurse holds hands with a Covid-19 patient at the intensive care unit of Casal Palocco hospital in Rome, October 20, 2020. 
World Report Chapter

Spain

Spain was hit hard by the public health and economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government took steps to shore up social security support as unemployment and poverty rose. Violence against women rose during a nationwide lockdown imposed to…
An 81-year-old woman and her 84-year-old husband kiss through plastic, after remarking that it was the longest time they had spent apart in 59 years of marriage, to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at a nursing home in Barcelona, Spain, June 2020. 
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Germany

Nine people were killed in February in a racist attack. Right-wing extremist structures are surfacing within the police and armed forces. Crimes committed based on far-right and antisemitic ideology remain a serious concern. Protests against the…
A boy plays soccer near a new graffiti, showing the nine victims of the Hanau shooting, under a bridge in Frankfurt, Germany, June, 2020.
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United Kingdom

The United Kingdom exited the European Union in January, and then faced the public health and economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. The government’s response to both highlighted its willingness to set aside human rights for the sake of political…
Hospital workers remember their colleagues who have died from coronavirus and call on UK health authorities to provide personal protective equipment at University College Hospital in London, April 2020.
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Poland

Presidential elections scheduled for March were postponed to July due to concerns over unfair campaigning as a result of movement restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Initial proposals by the ruling party to hold the elections in May via a hastily…
Women's rights activists, holding posters of the Women's Strike action, protest further tightening of Poland's restrictive abortion law in front of the parliament building in Warsaw, Poland, on Tuesday, October 27, 2020.
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Serbia/Kosovo

Serbia There was limited improvement in protections of human rights in Serbia in 2020. Journalists faced threats, violence, and intimidation, and those responsible are rarely held to account. Efforts to prosecute war crimes continued to focus on low-…
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday, November 11, 2020.
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Greece

In October, the leadership and multiple members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party were convicted of running a criminal organization. Greece continued to host large numbers of asylum seekers while failing to protect their rights. Thousands are confined to…
Refugees and migrants carrying their belongings flee a fire burning at the Moria camp on Lesbos island, Greece, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Successive fires that started before dawn on September 9 devastated the site and rendered 12,000 inhabitants homeless.
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Bosnia and Herzegovina

There remained serious human rights concerns in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2020 over ethnic divisions, discrimination, and the rights of minorities and asylum seekers. Pressure on media professionals continued. A long-delayed strategy was adopted to…
A health worker measures a visitor’s temperature before granting access to the Potocari memorial, illustrating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on this year's commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. 
World Report Chapter

Italy

Italy was the first country outside China to experience a major outbreak of Covid-19 and to declare a national state of emergency, and impose a strict lockdown, in early March 2020. The coalition government in power since September 2019 reversed some of…
Two men on the Sea-Watch 4, a nongovernmental rescue ship, look on as they approach a ferry off the coast of Palermo, Sicily, Italy, on September 2, 2020, where rescued migrants undergo quarantine.
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UK: Setting Aside Rights when Inconvenient

Responding to Pandemic, Brexit, Government Undermines Institutions that Protect Rights

Click to expand Image Hospital workers remember their colleagues who have…
Hospital workers remember their colleagues who have died from coronavirus and call on UK health authorities to provide personal protective equipment at University College Hospital in London, April 2020.
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Hungary

The government used the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext to continue its attacks on rule of law and democratic institutions. The government declared a state of emergency in March, seizing unlimited power to rule by decree without parliamentary and judicial…
Demonstrators march against the dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the Hungarian news website Index.hu in the streets of Budapest, Hungary, Friday, July 24, 2020.
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France

Announced changes in law enforcement and crowd control tactics fell short of addressing concerns of abusive and disproportionate use of force by the police, including during demonstrations. Discriminatory police identity checks targeting minority youth…
French police violently dismantled a tent camp set up to shelter migrants on Place de la République in Paris on November 23, 2020.
News

Belarus: Unprecedented Crackdown

Arrests, Torture of Peaceful Protesters Follow Disputed Election

Click to expand Image Demonstrators carry a huge historical flag of…
Demonstrators carry a huge historical flag of Belarus as thousands gather for a protest at the Independence square in Minsk, Belarus, Aug. 23, 2020.