Democracy Under Threat As COVID-19 Spreads: Daily Brief
Democracy under threat as leaders clamp down on critics and human rights; internet shutdowns exacerbate COVID-19 crisis; asylum seekers in Greece held in precarious conditions; Turkey weaponizes water supply to Kurdish-held areas in Syria; coronavirus treatment remains unaffordable for many US citizens; Muslims in Cambodia face increasing discrimination; overcrowded prisons in Indonesia and Thailand put inmates at risk; shackled people in Nigeria at high risk of COVID-19 pandemic; Burundi's government's denialism undermines coronavirus response, and Sierra Leone overturns policy banning pregnant girls from school.
Hungary's prime minister is not the only one to use the COVID-19 pandemic as pretext to seize increased powers. In many other countries around the globe leaders have passed emergency decrees and legislation expanding their reach during the pandemic.
During a health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, access to timely and accurate information is crucial. Imposing internet shutdowns, as several governments have done, violates multiple rights and can be deadly during a health crisis.
Greek authorities are arbitrarily detaining nearly 2,000 migrants and asylum seekers in dirty and cramped unsanitary conditions claiming they are holding the new arrivals in quarantine due to COVID-19. But the absence of even basic health precautions is likely to help the virus spread.
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Turkish authorities have been cutting off the water supply to regions most under strain in Syria.
The stimulus package the United States Congress approved last week provides billions of dollars for hospitals but does not ensure COVID-19 treatment is affordable and accessible – a gap that could prove devastating for millions of Americans.
An outburst of hateful comments aimed at Muslim communities was the reaction to a Cambodian Health Ministry’s statement referring to specific groups of people, including “Khmer Islam” who contracted the COVID-19 virus. Cambodian Muslims have since reported facing increasing discrimination.
Overcrowded prisons in Indonesia and Thailand put inmates at risk of COVID-19 infections. Fear of the virus has already sparked a prison riot at Thailand’s Buriram Prison. In Indonesian authorities should start curbing the spread by immediately releasing all political prisoners.
Hundreds of people across Nigeria who have, or are thought to have, mental health conditions are chained and locked up, deprived not only of freedom of movement but also of soap and water. The risks of the COVID_19 pandemic for shackled people should be a wakeup call that Nigeria should end this practice.
By failing to communicate fact-based information on how severe, contagious, and challenging the COVID-19 pandemic is Burundian authorities risk putting people in grave danger of exposure.
Some good news at last: Sierra Leon’s Ministry of Basic and Senior Secondary Education has overturned a draconian government ban excluding pregnant girls from class and from taking their exams.