COVID-19 and Human Rights

This timely collection brings together original explorations of the COVID-19 pandemic and its wide-ranging, global effects on human rights. The contributors argue that a human rights perspective is necessary to understand the pervasive consequences of the crisis, while focusing attention on those being left behind and providing a necessary framework for the effort to 'build back better'. Expert contributors to this volume address interconnections between the COVID-19 crisis and human rights to equality and non-discrimination, including historical responses to pandemics, populism and authoritarianism, and the rights to health, information, water and the environment. Highlighting the dangerous potential for derogations from human rights, authors further scrutinize the human rights compliance of new legislation and policies in relation to issues such as privacy, protection of persons with disabilities, freedom of expression, and access to medicines. Acknowledging the pandemic as a defining moment for human rights, the volume proposes a post-crisis human rights agenda to engage civil society and government at all levels in concrete measures to roll back increasing inequality. With rich examples, new thinking, and provocative analyses of human rights, COVID-19, pandemics, crises, and inequality, this book will be of key interest to scholars, students, and practitioners in all areas of human rights, global governance, andpublic health, as well as others who are ready to embark on an exploration of these complex challenges.

Foreword by Olivier de Schutter Part 1: Human Rights During Health Crises 1. Human Rights against Human Arbitrariness: Pandemics in a human rights historical perspective Steven L. B. Jensen 2. Human-rights-based versus Populist Responses to the Pandemic Martin Scheinin and Helga Molbæk-Steensig 3. Human Rights and Health in Times of Pandemics: Necessity and proportionality Katharina Ó Cathaoir 4. COVID-19 Risk Communication: The right to information and participation Tove H. Malloy Part 2: Vulnerability and Inequality 5. The Human (Rights) Costs of Inequality: Snapshots from a pandemic Martha F. Davis 6. Racial Justice to the Forefront: Do Black Lives Matter in international law? Elina Castillo Jimenez 7. COVID-19 and Violence against Women: Unprecedented impacts and suggestions for mitigation Zarizana Abdul Aziz and Janine Moussa 8. COVID-19 and Disability: A war of two paradigms Gerard Quinn 9. Life and Death in Prisons Hope Metcalf 10. Seizing Opportunities to Promote the Protection of the Rights of all Migrants Ian M. Kysel Part 3: Cornerstones for Social Cohesion 11. A Paradigm Shift for the Sustainable Development Goals? Human rights and the private sector in the new social contract Amanda Lyons 12. The Human Right to Food: Lessons learned towards food systems transformation Ana María Suárez Franco 13. COVID-19 and the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation Pedi Obani 14. Land Rights in Crisis Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu 15. How the Pandemic has Impacted the Various Layers of the Global Garment Supply Chain Sanchita Banejee Saxena, Harpreet Kaur and Salil Tripathi 16. Campaigning for Both Innovation and Equitable Access to COVID-19 Medicines Brook Baker 17. Is COVID-19 Frustrating or Facilitating Sustainability Transformations? An assessment from a human rights law perspective Claudia Ituarte-Lima Conclusion 18. The Post-crisis Human Rights Agenda Morten Kjaerum

Morten Kjaerum is Director of Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, Lund, Sweden and Adjunct Professor at the University of Aalborg, Denmark. Martha F. Davis is University Distinguished Professor at Northeastern University School of Law, USA. Amanda Lyons is Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota Law School, USA.