Limiting Human Rights during Pandemics
Cassandra Emmons, Cassandra Emmons a postdoctoral fellow with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs’ t Harvard Univrsity, discusses how COVID-19 has proven that public health emergencies are not equally recognized in either international law or national constitutions; some international treaties permit “limiting” rights in the name of public health rather than requiring derogation, and nationally some governments authorize emergency measures in practice without ever doing so in name. These parallel processes and conceptual gaps create space for governments to restrict individuals’ rights with little to no international accountability during pandemics.