The state of civil liberties around the world is bleak, according to a new study which found that 87% of the global population has proven to have lived in nations considered "closed", "oppressed" and "obstructed". Civil rights deteriorated in almost every country in the world during the pandemic.
A number of governments have used the pandemic as an excuse to restrict rights such as free speech and peaceful assembly, according to the Civicus Monitor, an alliance of civil society groups that valued 196 countries.
Using methods such as detaining protesters, excessive use of force, censorship, attacks on journalists, and harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders, many governments have used Covid-19 to "introduce or enforce additional restrictions on freedoms." citizens, "the report said.
"Using detention as the main tactic to curb protests only shows the hypocrisy of governments using Covid-19 as a pretext to crack down on protests, [as] the virus is more likely to spread indoors like prisons," the study said. Civicus Monitor, directed by Marianna Belalba Barreto. "Our research reflects a deepening crisis of civic space across the globe and highlights how governments are using the pandemic as an excuse to further restrict rights, including passing legislation to criminalize speech."
In the U.S., as millions of protesters took part in the Black Lives Matter movement, the Trump administration responded with excessive force, police violence and mass bans, according to the study. In recent years, several states have enacted restrictive laws that restrict people's right to protest peacefully, and across the United States, reporters were increasingly arrested or injured while conducting interviews or covering protests.
In Europe, "authoritarian" movements by governments that use the pandemic "as a pretext to restrict freedoms" have restricted civil rights in Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Serbia.
Source: Guardian
